Viola Davis covers the newest issue of Vanity Fair. The cover and spread was shot by the publication’s first ever black photographer, Dario Calmese. More inside…

 

 

 

 

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Presenting our July/August cover star: @ViolaDavis. Last month, the Oscar winner took to the streets to protest the death of George Floyd—but she’s no stranger to fighting for what’s right. As a Black woman in Hollywood, she’s spent her career doing it: “My entire life has been a protest,” Davis says. “My production company is my protest. Me not wearing a wig at the Oscars in 2012 was my protest. It is a part of my voice, just like introducing myself to you and saying, ‘Hello, my name is Viola Davis.’” Davis was photographed by @dario.studio—the first Black photographer to shoot a Vanity Fair cover. At the link in bio, Davis speaks with V.F. about her extraordinary journey out of poverty and into the stubbornly unequal Hollywood system. Story by @soniasaraiya Photographed by @dario.studio Styled by @elizabethstewart1 Coatdress @maxmara Earrings @pomellato

A post shared by Vanity Fair (@vanityfair) on Jul 14, 2020 at 4:02am PDT

Viola Davis makes history with her new cover for the latest issue of Vanity Fair that hits newsstands July 21st. Viola’s July/August 2020 issue is the first Vanity Fair cover ever shot by a black photographer. And it's STUNNING.

Dario Calmese is the first Black photographer to shoot a Vanity Fair cover. Woot!

Dario is a St. Louis native who built his brand from the bottom, working out of an art studio in the South Bronx for almost a decade. He received his Master’s degree from School of Visual Arts.

Viola Davis for V.F. July/August 2020. Photographs by Dario Calmese. The cover marks the first V.F. cover shot by a Black photographer. https://t.co/izJBKTFrt7 pic.twitter.com/SeUdZkQwoO

— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) July 14, 2020

“To the best of our knowledge, it is the first Vanity Fair cover made by a Black photographer,” Radhika Jones wrote in her July-August editor’s letter. “Calmese describes his cover concept as “a re-creation of the Louis Agassiz slave portraits taken in the 1800s—the back, the welts. This image reclaims that narrative, transmuting the white gaze on Black suffering into the Black gaze of grace, elegance, and beauty.”

In the cover story (where she was interviewed by writer Sonia Saraiya on Juneteenth), the Oscar winning actress opened up again about why she regrets starring in “The Help.”

”There’s no one who’s not entertained by The Help. But there’s a part of me that feels like I betrayed myself, and my people, because I was in a movie that wasn’t ready to [tell the whole truth.],” she said. “I cannot tell you the love I have for these women, and the love they have for me. But with any movie—are people ready for the truth?”

The actress/producer - who became the first Black woman ever to win an Emmy for lead actress in a drama for "How to Get Away With Murder" - even called out Vanity Fair for their lack of diversity.

“They’ve had a problem in the past with putting Black women on the covers,” she said of the publication, which appointed Radhika Jones, its first non-White editrix, in 2017.

“But that’s a lot of magazines, that’s a lot of beauty campaigns,” Davis continued. “There’s a real absence of dark-skinned Black women. When you couple that with what’s going on in our culture, and how they treat Black women, you have a double whammy. You are putting us in a complete cloak of invisibility.”

And with that, she perfectly explains why purely her existence is a protest in itself.

“My entire life has been a protest,” Davis says. “My production company is my protest. Me not wearing a wig at the Oscars in 2012 was my protest. It is a part of my voice, just like introducing myself to you and saying, ‘Hello, my name is Viola Davis.’”

 

 

 

 

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“Not a lot of narratives are also invested in our humanity,” says @ViolaDavis, who’s set to star as Michelle Obama and blues legend Ma Rainey in upcoming projects. “They’re invested in the idea of what it means to be Black, but…it’s catering to the white audience. The white audience at the most can sit and get an academic lesson into how we are. Then they leave the movie theater and they talk about what it meant. They’re not moved by who we were.” At the link in bio, the Academy Award winner speaks to @soniasaraiya about championing Black stories, her journey to Hollywood, and what she hopes her company, JuVee Productions, will provide to young non-white actors. Story by @soniasaraiya Photographed by @dario.studio Styled by @elizabethstewart1 Gown: @alexandermcqueen Earrings: @jenniferfisherjewelry Cuff: @celine Makeup: @lorealparis

A post shared by Vanity Fair (@vanityfair) on Jul 14, 2020 at 7:09am PDT

The "How To Get Away With Murder" actresses also discussed the recent racial justice protests, her upcoming role portraying Michelle Obama, her impoverished upbringing in Rhode Island, and more. You can read it all here.

Viola's cover hits newsstands on July 21.

Photos: Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock.com