Viola Davis is now the most Oscar-nominated Black actress in history
Viola Davis scored her fourth Oscars nod when the nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards were announced Monday morning, and she made history in the process.
Davis was recognized as a nominee for best performance by an actress in a leading role for her work as the titular character in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. She simultaneously became the most-nominated Black actress in Oscar history as well as the only Black actress with two nominations in this category:
The How to Get Away with Murder star was previously nominated for best performance by an actress in a leading role (The Help) in 2012. Davis was named the best actress in a supporting role (Fences) in 2017, her lone win so far, and her first nomination came as a supporting actress in 2008 (Doubt).
"For me, it’s a reflection of the lack of opportunities and access to opportunities people of color have had in this business," Davis told Variety in late February, speaking of the possibility of breaking this record. "If me, going back to the Oscars four times in 2021, makes me the most nominated Black actress in history, that's a testament to the sheer lack of material there has been out there for artists of color."
Per Variety, Davis' Ma Rainey nomination breaks a tie she previously held with Octavia Spencer. The only other Black actress to be recognized more than once by the Academy is Whoopi Goldberg.
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is based upon late blues singer Gertrude "Ma" Rainey as she and her band record at a Chicago studio in 1927.
The George C. Wolfe-directed film is nominated four times, including a posthumous nomination for Chadwick Boseman in the best actor category. Boseman, known for several ground-breaking roles but probably most for Black Panther, died ta 43 years old last August after a secret battle with colon cancer. The other two nods came for costume design and production design.
The Oscars will air Sunday, April 25, beginning at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.
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