Actor Viola Davis has said that African-American actors have worked hard to be nominated at the Academy Awards and it is not a response to last year's #OscarSoWhite backlash.
The 51-year-old, who won Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding supporting actor for 'Fences', said that such actors have made a mark for themselves with their work, not because of their colour, reported Variety.
"There's a lot of typecasting age, sex, colour, dark-skinned, light-skinned. Response to Oscar SoWhite? No. I think that every nominee from Naomie Harris to Octavia Spencer to 'Hidden Figures' to 'Fences' to 'Moonlight' to Mahershala Ali are up there because they deserve to be there. They're not there because of the colour of their skin. They put in the work. So the answer to that is no."
With the Oscars season coming up soon, Viola added that it is important diversity is discussed at the awards, than
inclusion as art must reflect our life.
When asked about the continuing dearth of opportunities for people of color in leading roles, the How to get away with murder actor said, "To tell you the truth, we're still sort of absent in leading roles, especially if you're darker than a paper bag."