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Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman Was an Inspiration for Viola Davis

In her latest photoshoot with Variety, Oscar Winner Viola Davis talks about her love of Wonder Woman, based on the ’70s television show, starring Lynda Carter, that came out when she was twelve years old.

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“Okay, I have a slight obsession with Wonder Woman,” Viola Davis says, holding her Wonder Woman mug and looking so beautiful with her halo of hair. “She’s sort of my idol. When the show came out I was twelve years old, and I’d never seen anything like it in my life. I mean as soon as the going gets tough, you saw this woman who was seemingly demure […] she could turn into a superhero and get the job done. It wasn’t about her trading in her feminity […] she wasn’t vindictive towards other women.”

Hearing Viola Davis speak about her experiences as a twelve-year-old loving Diana Prince, and still now having that same love, is so powerful because it’s a reminder of what these characters mean to people and how their influence stays with us, even as adults. Davis’ feelings about Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman are how many people felt about finally seeing Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman or Melissa Benoist as Supergirl. For me, it’d be the combination of Sailor Moon as a child and then watching Danai Gurira as Okoye in Black Panther.

While the beginning of this video starts off with Wonder Woman, it leads into Davis talking about coming to work with Steve McQueen on his upcoming film, Widows, which she stars in alongside an impressive cast: Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, and Cynthia Erivo, who go on a heist where their husbands (Liam Neeson, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Jon Bernthal, and Garret Dillahunt) are killed and they are forced to finish the job.

The role appealed to Davis because, like Wonder Woman, it involves her character tapping into her power, forming bonds with other women, and going against the norms of what a woman is “supposed” to do. It’s so refreshing to see that Viola Davis is getting roles like this. My biggest desire for her has always been for her to appear in films where she could be both tender and strong, loved and empowered.

The opening scene in the trailer, with her and Liam Neeson in bed together, warms my heart, because I can’t think of a time I’ve seen Viola Davis onscreen with a man who is full in love with her and treats her with that kind of adoration on the big screen.

“You have to save you,”  Viola says about the women in the movie and what drives them to survive their circumstances.

Look, all I’m saying is that Patty Jenkins needs to write a role for Viola in that third Wonder Woman movie ASAP, because Suicide Squad didn’t do her any justice, and Viola Davis needs to be an Amazon.

(image: Screengrab)

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Author
Princess Weekes
Princess (she/her-bisexual) is a Brooklyn born Megan Fox truther, who loves Sailor Moon, mythology, and diversity within sci-fi/fantasy. Still lives in Brooklyn with her over 500 Pokémon that she has Eevee trained into a mighty army. Team Zutara forever.

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