Viola Davis won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress on Sunday for her portrayal of the character Rose Maxson in the movie "Fences." It was her first Academy Award.
Davis had already been nominated for Oscars twice before, according to the L.A. Times. The first was for her role in the film "The Help," and the next in the movie "Doubt." When her award finally came for "Fences," Davis was overwhelmed and teary-eyed.
During her speech, she thanked God, screenwriter August Wilson and her co-star Denzel Washington, who played her on-screen husband Troy Maxson. She received a thunderous applause when she addressed Washington with, "O, Captain! My Captain!"
"Thank you for putting two entities in the driving seat: August and God. And they served you well," she said.
Davis also said the best stories come from one place only, and she is thankful Wilson "exhumed and exalted the ordinary people."
"There's one place that all the people with the greatest potential are gathered. One place. And that's the graveyard," she said. "People ask me all the time, 'What kind of stories do you want to tell, Viola?' And I say exhume those bodies. Exhume those stories. The stories of the people who dreamed big and never saw those dreams to fruition. People who fell in love and lost."
The actress added that she is thankful to God she became an artist because it's the only profession "that celebrates what it means to live a life."
As for Washington, he was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor, but lost to Casey Affleck. But he did not seem to mind losing.
Washington earlier told Bishop T.D. Jakes in his talk show that he already enjoyed a fulfilling career as an actor. So now, he's going to dedicate his life to serving God. "I'm in the service business now, I'm fine. I've done well," Washington said. "I don't need any watches and all of that. So I'm here to serve God, here to serve my family."
