Why Viola Davis Doesn’t View Her Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Character As The Protagonist Or Antagonist

I don’t view her as a protagonist or antagonist, because I can’t. An actor doesn’t do that. It’s like, you’ve got to portray the character exactly who they are. Whether they’re a protagonist or an antagonist, that’s for the audience, that’s a judgement. I portrayed her as a woman who literally is born in a world that doesn’t value her at all – that doesn’t even recognize her as a human being, but she is a person who understands her worth. So, therefore, she’s a woman who absolutely has busted a hole through 1927. She is a liberated woman. She is those people that you don’t know where the hell they came from, you know? It’s like where were you born? And she was born in Columbus, Georgia, actually. So I just saw her as a woman who knew her worth and wasn’t going to concede. It wasn’t up for discussion. I know that [as Ma] I’m great at what I do, I know it’s making you money, I should be called the Mother of the Blues. I’m influencing all these other singers, so you treat me like I deserve to be treated. And that’s it. That’s how I saw her. And of course other things, too, unapologetic about her sexuality, certainly a sensitivity and a maternal instinct and all of those things.