Viola Davis made Oscar history today when she was nominated for her third Oscar, earning a nomination in the Supporting Actress category for her performance in “Fences”. As a result, Davis becomes the first African-American actress to ever receive three Oscar nominations.
“Thank you to the Academy for recognizing this extraordinary, important film and my work in it,” Davis responded after receiving her nomination, and sending a shout-out to co-star Denzel Washington. “Thank you, Denzel, for being at the helm!”
Davis was nominated in 2009 for her performance in “Doubt” and again in 2012 for “The Help”. Prior to this morning’s nominations, Whoopi Goldberg held the record with two nominations, for “Ghost” (for which she won) and “The Color Purple”.
Meanwhile, last year’s #OscarsSoWhite controversy appears to be ancient history, with every acting category this year recognizing a person of colour as seven minority actors received nominations this year.
Davis has already won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Rose Maxson in “Fences”.
