Viola Davis receives fourth Oscar nomination and a place in the history of Hollywood

Viola Davis has just reached a four milestone.

She received her fourth Oscar nomination, according to Netflix, and set a record for most acting nominations for a black actress.

Davis, who won the 2017 Best Supporting Actress award for ‘Fences’, was linked with Octavia Spencer to three nominations, until her name was named best actress category on Monday as the title character in’ Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom ‘. It also makes her the first black woman to earn two nominations for Best Actress, says Netflix, which released the adaptation of the August Wilson play.

Whoopi Goldberg is the only other female black actor with multiple nods and won the Best Supporting Actress for ‘Ghost’ in 1991 after being nominated for Best Actress in 1986 for ‘The Color Purple’, Entertainment Weekly noted.

“If I, in 2021, go back to the Oscars four times, making myself the most nominated black actress in history, it’s a testament to the lack of material that exists for artists of color,” Davis said. told Variety weeks before the big day.

Davis has repeatedly called out the racial divide in Hollywood. Her ‘pay me what I’m worth’ plea for equality at a 2018 Women in the World went viral again last summer.

‘I have to go on the phone and tell people you’re a Black Meryl Stripe. There is no one like you, ”she said. “OK, if there’s no one like me, do you think I am? Pay me what I’m worth.”

On the men’s side, Denzel Washington, according to EW, collected a record Oscar award along with two wins.

Both Davis and her late co-star of “Ma Rainey,” Chadwick Boseman, will chase history in the categories of best actress and best actor.

The last (and only) black best actress winner was Halle Berry for ‘Monster’s Ball’ in 2002. The last for the men was Forest Whitaker for ‘The Last King of Scotland’ in 2007.