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Viola Davis & Cast of 'WOMAN KING' Sway In The Morning Town Hall | SWAY’S UNIVERSE
Sep 14, 2022
The Woman King is a 2022 American historical epic film about the Agojie, the all-female warrior unit who protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the 17th to 19th centuries. Set in the 1820s, the film stars Viola Davis as a general who trains the next generation of warriors to fight their enemies.
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Viola Davis & Cast of 'WOMAN KING' Sway In The Morning Town Hall | SWAY’S UNIVERSE
https://youtu.be/WnjBZOu9i4o
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0:00
i need a big round of applause for
0:01
what's about to take place
0:04
have to be we had a lot of special
0:05
moments on this show over the years it's
0:07
been how many years now 11.
0:09
we've had some great people on this show
0:11
in that 11 years including president
0:13
obama
0:15
including spike lee
0:17
heather i'm losing how many great people
0:18
we've had on the show but they've been
0:20
on the show they've been here six years
0:22
ago we were graced with the presence of
0:23
this queen that's sitting with us right
0:25
now
0:26
and she came to talk about an incredible
0:28
epic movie that you and i had a chance
0:31
to see this past friday when i took you
0:32
out on date night oh please with my
0:34
husband that doesn't count well today
0:36
was me and him not you
0:38
i got a husband a boyfriend
0:42
you were the fifth wheel
0:44
but uh we sat and and watched this movie
0:48
um
0:49
that was um directed by the great gina
0:51
prince by the way who's here with us
0:53
today wow
0:55
um and her love in basketball uh movie
0:58
just really
0:59
showed and changed culture in so many
1:02
different ways and showed us black love
1:04
through basketball and
1:06
culture in a way that just was just
1:08
really empowering and so
1:10
this movie the woman king is as epic as
1:12
any movie you've ever seen but the story
1:15
that's being told is a story that's
1:16
never been told properly in my opinion
1:18
had to be we studied this growing up in
1:21
oakland california
1:22
we studied a gold j if i'm saying it
1:25
correctly we we studied who this
1:27
military regiment was that had to come
1:30
to the defense of the dohemi tribes uh
1:33
empire back in the 1600s i believe it
1:35
was if i'm not mistaken and when you see
1:38
that kind of representation in our
1:39
history that's not taught in our school
1:41
curriculums public school otherwise it
1:43
makes you wonder well is this a
1:45
diabolical scheme or plan to let us not
1:48
for us to not know who we are what our
1:49
true history is yes
1:51
so i want to say thank you to gina uh
1:54
for putting this movie together and
1:55
directing it the way you did come on
1:58
thank you
1:59
this is going to be powerful i can't
2:00
wait to take my daughter to see this one
2:03
my daughter needs to see this
2:05
you know she's in her early 20s she's
2:08
looking for this type of empowerment
2:09
from our history she doesn't get a
2:11
chance to see this often with us we got
2:14
sheila a team is with us give her a big
2:16
round of applause
2:17
[Applause]
2:19
she has an angelic voice
2:22
maybe if we're lucky
2:28
we got the amazing lashonna lynches with
2:30
the citizens wow look at her
2:33
with the shoulders she got the
2:39
[Laughter]
2:43
i did see some dancing at the end of the
2:44
movie though i will say
2:46
uh i won't go into that we got from
2:48
south africa right
2:51
man this is my sister right here i went
2:53
to south africa and they embraced me so
2:54
well they thought i was from south
2:56
africa heather because of all mtv
2:58
footage that they used to run on mtv
3:00
basin people in south johannesburg
3:02
thought i was from johannesburg one of
3:04
the greatest moments in um vacations i
3:06
ever took on two so um better was here
3:09
ladies and gentlemen
3:13
beautiful welcome heather i wanted to
3:15
see you i'm gonna call her audible last
3:17
time i got a chance to introduce her but
3:20
since you guys came in here like twins i
3:22
thought maybe
3:23
i thought maybe you want to say some
3:24
words about our final guests here today
3:26
wow um what can i say
3:29
besides
3:31
thank you for being the example that you
3:33
are
3:34
we were blessed to watch this film and
3:37
literally we stood up we clapped we
3:40
cried because you are the example
3:43
every opportunity we get to watch you
3:44
whether it's through an interview
3:46
whether it's through a performance we
3:48
strive for the type of greatness that
3:50
you have shown we are proud to be one of
3:53
you and we are proud that you are one of
3:56
us
3:57
ladies and gentlemen citizens this way
3:59
in the morning welcome the queen viola
4:02
david
4:05
oh yes
4:06
or the woman king how you know
4:09
the queen woman king
4:13
i like that scene with john bollega made
4:15
that announcement i don't want to give
4:16
up too much
4:18
did i do it already gina i gave it up a
4:20
little bit
4:21
my bad my bad i'm just proud of the
4:22
movie yes um
4:25
this is the woman king so i definitely
4:26
want to let heather and i just want to
4:28
stick the theme right now and and get
4:30
out of the way helping tracy for some of
4:32
their questions um but i wanted to start
4:34
i was thinking about this gina and i
4:36
read a quote
4:37
uh regarding what you discovered while
4:39
researching this film
4:41
um and you said the biggest eye-opener
4:42
was how much misinformation there is
4:44
about these women and this culture given
4:46
that so much of the history was written
4:47
from the colonizer's point of view
4:50
so it was really about separating those
4:52
texts from that point of view from that
4:54
point of view which were so disparaging
4:56
and disrespectful from the truth
4:59
um when you did this study for this film
5:02
what are some of those untruths that you
5:04
discovered and what are some of those
5:05
truths that you wanted to bring to light
5:08
yeah it was a a shocking thing um
5:12
i think the biggest thing is the
5:14
understanding that
5:15
you know who who's writing your history
5:17
and what is their intent and for so many
5:20
of those
5:21
things that were written the intent was
5:22
to dehumanize
5:24
us as a people make us look like savages
5:27
and so
5:28
you know there are things written about
5:29
that they would dig swimming pool size
5:32
ditches and fill them with blood you
5:34
know things like that
5:35
they would describe these women as
5:37
manish and ugly
5:39
[Music]
5:40
and that's just not who they were and
5:42
the things that we ultimately use we
5:44
found these journals written by some
5:46
missionaries that made a journey and the
5:48
difference in the way that it was
5:50
described they talked about the beauty
5:52
and humanity
5:54
and
5:55
the goodness and the morality of the
5:58
homie as opposed to wida which is you
6:00
know depicted in the film of where the
6:02
the slave trade took place and
6:04
to see that to see people who were
6:06
honoring the beauty of these women
6:08
honoring the beauty of the place
6:09
honoring the beauty of africa as opposed
6:11
to disparaging it um was really a game
6:14
changer for us and and ultimately the
6:16
the biggest part of research that we use
6:18
for this
6:19
wow you proud of your work
6:21
he said this one yeah
6:25
you know we got to celebrate this stuff
6:27
think about who you were 30 years ago 20
6:29
years ago look where you are now this is
6:31
amazing i'm curious to um the reception
6:35
that you got from the from the movie
6:36
studios when this first came across the
6:38
table the woman king and the idea of
6:41
seeing these beautiful uh dark-skinned
6:44
women grace to scream in that way
6:47
what kind of resistance did i direct
6:49
this to you viola what kind of
6:50
resistance did you guys you don't want
6:52
the question
6:54
no i'll take it okay
6:56
because if you don't let me know you're
6:58
the woman king um
6:59
[Laughter]
7:01
what kind of resistance was there did
7:03
you guys meet at first and then how did
7:05
you
7:06
navigate through that
7:08
well the resistance we got is exactly
7:11
the resistance you would imagine yes it
7:14
is a predominantly black female and
7:16
dark-skinned black male black
7:19
female-driven narrative
7:21
it just is and
7:23
we know traditionally hollywood has
7:26
not had that
7:28
they do not believe that we can lead a
7:30
global box office without a white male
7:33
savior or even a white female savior
7:35
which is nowhere in the film
7:38
um
7:38
so
7:39
everything became a fight the hair
7:42
became a fight the hair then wow you
7:45
know what we look like became a fight
7:48
everything was a fight but you know what
7:51
sometimes you find your voice it's like
7:53
um the tony morrison quote that when you
7:56
free yourself then um your job is to go
8:00
out and free others
8:02
is that you fight because what i realize
8:06
once again i'm gonna use another quote
8:08
you know
8:10
sorry because that's is um you know when
8:12
they
8:13
the famous quote of if if you want to
8:15
know me don't ask me how i do my hair or
8:18
where i live
8:20
ask me what i live for
8:22
or better yet ask me what's getting in
8:24
the way of what i live for
8:26
and
8:27
i have to some extent if i were to be
8:30
brutally honest always felt invisible
8:33
as a woman as a dark-skinned black woman
8:35
the labels what you have to fight i
8:37
remember hearing a man years ago he was
8:40
a white man who said i don't think any
8:42
black women are attractive except for
8:44
diana ross and donna summer and he felt
8:47
very comfortable saying that
8:49
and i've always felt like i'm waiting to
8:52
be introduced
8:54
to the world as viola i want people to
8:57
see my my beauty i want people to see my
9:00
mess i want people to see my humanity
9:03
and and so
9:04
that was a fight with this film yeah you
9:07
know because
9:08
black women in this film are seen
9:11
in all of their glory um but you know
9:14
what this is one time it was worth the
9:16
fight
9:17
yeah was it a deal breaker for you
9:21
yeah yeah absolutely it was a deal
9:23
breaker i mean
9:25
you know
9:26
at some point you have to understand
9:29
that
9:30
listen
9:31
i think that i have achieved great
9:33
success in my career
9:35
and i have to be honest i i thought it
9:38
would feel different
9:39
i thought i would be absolutely
9:41
fulfilled
9:42
instead i felt exhausted
9:45
you know you're still fighting for you
9:47
know i'm good but you're still fighting
9:50
for pay you're still fighting for those
9:53
scripts that really are gonna show your
9:55
talent you're still fighting and you're
9:57
still sort of feeling like
9:59
disillusioned with everything until you
10:02
realize success is not the cap
10:05
it's significance
10:07
that's the last cap you got to live a
10:09
life bigger than yourself at some point
10:12
you got to be brave enough to sort of
10:16
flip the net switch the narrative and
10:18
this film
10:20
you got to be brave yeah because the
10:22
script itself is brave that you you've
10:24
got you've got to meet the film where
10:27
it's at
10:28
and so you got to risk discomfort
10:31
and that's what i risk for
10:33
the sheilas the lashanas the tussos
10:35
aseas the shiomas the jamies the adrians
10:39
all of the black women who are featured
10:40
in this film i i have to fight for them
10:44
you know
10:46
the woman king round of applause
10:50
hp yeah um in the theme of celebrating
10:53
the ladies today um sheila lashantu so
10:57
i'm curious to know what did you do when
10:59
you found out you got the role normally
11:01
i celebrate by jumping on my bed with
11:04
champagne
11:06
it's childish but it makes me happy when
11:08
i get good news what did you ladies do
11:10
when you found out i've been cast in the
11:13
women king i'll start with you
11:15
um i messaged lashana
11:18
because i knew that she was in it oh wow
11:21
but
11:22
she didn't know that i was auditioning
11:24
for it she told me she was doing this
11:25
job and she kind of she hadn't given the
11:27
title but from the description of it i
11:30
was like i think it is
11:32
so we just had this conversation and i
11:33
was just like
11:35
for the whole conversation i didn't know
11:37
if i definitely got the job right when i
11:38
got it she was the first person i
11:40
messaged oh my gosh
11:45
i didn't know that by the way
11:47
i didn't know that yeah because you
11:48
messaged me and i called and was like no
11:50
no wait well i had a whole company
11:53
[Laughter]
11:57
um
11:59
this
12:01
this script came to me
12:03
um in one of the most unique ways and
12:06
amazing ways i've had in my career so
12:08
far in having a director see me and
12:10
think of me um before me
12:14
even
12:15
even reading the script never ever
12:17
happens um and then reading a script
12:20
knowing it's incredible and that you're
12:22
just happy that it's being made and that
12:23
is going to be in the world at a time
12:25
when you as an adult get to enjoy it was
12:27
incredible so
12:29
speaking to gina the um zoom and having
12:32
her say yeah i've just there's his part
12:34
and
12:35
read it you know see what you think and
12:44
um and it was it was like you know a
12:47
meeting of two um amazing once in my in
12:50
my career working with a woman
12:52
um
12:53
um a black woman uh women that i've
12:56
admired since loving basketball onwards
12:58
and then getting to represent my
13:00
ancestors in a script that i felt really
13:02
connected to wow yeah really special
13:05
and what about tulsa oh um
13:09
it was exciting but i'm the i'm the type
13:10
of person who like has delayed
13:12
excitement
13:14
relatable
13:15
yeah
13:16
well you know your team calls you and
13:18
they're so excited and you go yeah sure
13:21
thank you because you're trying to be
13:22
professional also you're like it's like
13:25
you can't i ha i can't let myself get
13:27
pretty excited until you know we've
13:30
signed and everything it makes sense
13:32
i've arrived
13:37
i know i messaged my sister my sister
13:38
always does the
13:39
our grandmother is going so i'll be her
13:41
she starts crying type situation and
13:43
then um i have a guy friend of mine who
13:45
i've been friends with four years i
13:48
remember texting him and saying listen
13:50
the next project i'm dedicating to you
13:52
because i've had so many people tell me
13:54
that i could never do action
13:56
and he was always the one that when we
13:58
would go watch an action movie he'd be
14:00
he'd be like i comment for you to be in
14:02
something like this wow you know so yeah
14:05
yeah yeah congratulations to you all
14:07
thank you for sharing that thank you
14:08
thank you i'm so grateful to be in the
14:10
presence of the five of y'all like
14:12
sincerely i saw the film last night with
14:15
one of my dear girlfriends kiera and
14:16
like
14:17
the spectrum of emotions that we felt
14:20
was just wild and it really led to um
14:23
deep deep beautiful conversation and we
14:25
were going over a lot of themes like
14:27
bold sisterhood not just sisterhood
14:29
that's like hey let's look cute next to
14:30
each other but let's cover each other
14:33
you know what i'm saying like deep
14:35
ancestral reverence
14:37
um how
14:38
self-care pours into community care
14:41
and then we went into a conversation
14:43
about soft life
14:45
and
14:46
for y'all who are on i would say all of
14:48
social media this conversation soft life
14:50
that i feel like has been
14:52
kicked off by black women who are very
14:55
tired you know from all of the roles
14:57
that we carry in our back all of the
14:59
expectations like
15:01
being on this proverbial what feels like
15:03
a never-ending hamster wheel and not
15:05
feeling like the presence of
15:07
ease
15:08
is accepted by us or by others and woman
15:13
king is anything but
15:15
soft life right and discernment becomes
15:18
really important with knowing when is
15:20
there a time for effort and when is
15:23
there a time for ease and so i'm curious
15:26
when it comes to you guys lives and
15:28
anyone can take this or maybe all of you
15:30
but how do you find that discernment
15:33
like how do you know this is the time
15:34
where i need to lean in a bit more
15:37
and when i need to fall back and rest
15:44
i think i think i'm still finding it
15:46
yeah it feels
15:48
like a kind of
15:49
lifelong
15:51
journey maybe generations long
15:54
journey because
15:55
you're also you know dealing with the
15:57
stuff that gets passed down to you from
15:59
the generations above
16:01
um
16:02
and then you know the people alongside
16:04
you your peers is there's a there's a
16:06
quite a community aspect to that that i
16:10
think
16:10
it can be very hard to do on your own
16:12
you need to be encouraged by those
16:14
around you to
16:16
understand your own boundaries and your
16:17
own limits we need to
16:20
illuminate that to each other yeah
16:22
that's why community is so important
16:24
because it is really difficult to be
16:26
you know completely discerning at every
16:28
given time on your own it's just not
16:30
it's
16:31
you know we're human beings we're social
16:33
creatures we we require that interaction
16:35
from each other i think that's what's so
16:37
powerful in the film as well like you
16:39
you don't just see the moments of care
16:41
you also see
16:42
the moments where we challenge each
16:44
other out of care you know um but that's
16:47
just as important as also affirming each
16:49
other and raising each other up so
16:51
yeah you know
16:52
flagging to each other when might be a
16:54
time to stop when might be a time to
16:56
push forward
16:57
that's just as important as my own sort
16:59
of internal instincts but i think for me
17:01
it's like
17:02
i've always been like push push push
17:04
push push keep going yeah and more
17:06
recently i'm finding as viola kind of
17:08
spoke about earlier like exhaustion you
17:11
know
17:12
and recognizing that that's not a good
17:13
place to operate from and so
17:16
i now have to start finding balance yeah
17:18
to replenish yourself absolutely and
17:20
yeah it's a journey it's a process i'm
17:22
still figuring it out
17:24
thank you for sharing i think for me um
17:26
rest is a priority um
17:37
my dna says i need at least eight hours
17:39
of sleep and naps in between
17:42
right yeah
17:45
and you know i think um rest is
17:48
an ease as a priority for me because
17:51
life has been hard you know um and like
17:54
sheila is saying
17:56
you keep pushing you keep pushing you
17:58
keep pushing and i think at some point
17:59
in my life i
18:01
did reach my breaking point
18:03
and life taught me
18:05
what matters and what doesn't and so i
18:07
never give my energy to the stuff that i
18:11
say does not matter
18:13
and so i focus on you know pursuing
18:15
purpose so if it's not part of what i
18:17
believe is my purpose then i don't give
18:18
it my energy at all and so even when i'm
18:20
resting
18:22
i'm resting knowing that you know god is
18:23
filling in the blanks come on yeah
18:27
you know um
18:28
the thing about it is
18:30
because
18:32
it's very difficult for me
18:34
once again it's that idea of being on
18:36
top and everybody wants to be on top
18:39
i feel
18:40
that work work work work work is a
18:43
cultural narrative out there
18:46
it's a cultural
18:47
narrative that okay you want
18:50
generational wealth you know you want to
18:52
leave legacy all of that and it's all
18:55
driven by trauma
18:58
yep all of it is because what it is is
19:02
you don't deserve to rest
19:04
yeah that's what it's it's driven by you
19:07
don't deserve to rest it's all driven by
19:10
the idea of no self-love
19:13
all of it your life should be ease
19:16
all of it should be ease
19:18
and
19:19
and ease comes with walking into a room
19:23
and feeling very comfortable with
19:26
showing up and being seen
19:28
and what i find
19:31
with black women
19:32
i will say this is we come into a room
19:35
and we out strong each other
19:37
and we outstrong each other by showing
19:39
each other our resume
19:40
you know yeah girl you know i belong to
19:43
the lynx i belong to hot chocolate club
19:46
and i got you know you know my girls and
19:48
um brownie whatever my face is beat you
19:51
know and i remember literally i had an
19:54
interview with a a reporter in the uk
19:57
for fences
19:59
and she said i don't i don't understand
20:01
this movie
20:03
i would never have done what rose did
20:06
with raising a child by another woman
20:09
with my man in the house i don't even
20:12
understand that i said well you know
20:14
what
20:15
we do a lot of things in life that are
20:16
messy that you probably wouldn't
20:18
understand
20:19
you know that's human beings are they
20:22
they're deep
20:24
i said i'm sure you've made mistakes in
20:26
your life
20:27
now you pause
20:29
this could have been an easy interview
20:33
and this could have been a moment where
20:34
we both could have connected
20:36
and it couldn't it didn't have to be a
20:38
chore which interviews sometimes are
20:40
yeah yeah
20:41
but you know what she did thank you gina
20:43
she abandoned me
20:45
by saying
20:46
i've never done that right
20:49
i've never done i've never made a
20:51
mistake and that's what we do as black
20:53
women because it's our way of showing
20:56
people that we can do we can be we can
21:00
whatever and you just want to say listen
21:03
when you love yourself and you're
21:05
comfortable with yourself then you want
21:07
to belong to yourself by saying you know
21:10
what i hurt
21:11
yeah and that's not okay with me
21:13
and you know what sister you hurt too
21:15
okay let's go out and get something to
21:16
eat yeah and that's how connection
21:18
happens absolutely because if you don't
21:20
connect to yourself
21:22
you're not going to connect to anyone
21:23
else there it is a round of applause for
21:25
that we got the cast of the woman king
21:27
is here with us today part of the cast
21:29
is here with us today we're going to
21:30
come back with the man king mike muse
21:32
has got a question
21:34
uh if you got a question you tuned in
21:36
anywhere around the world 888-742-3345
21:40
[Applause]
21:44
with sway heather b and tracy g on shade
21:47
45. all right all right big round of
21:49
applause man they are here lashana
21:51
sheila tuso viola gina they're all here
21:53
oh here baby they're all here i've never
21:56
felt more protected in my life ever be
21:59
don't do something see what happened
22:00
right now see if we got your back
22:02
you always have my back black woman is
22:04
god that's right i often say that that's
22:07
true
22:07
[Applause]
22:09
give a birth to the universe yes there
22:12
will be no king would if there was no
22:14
queen
22:16
this is my tutelage black woman is god
22:18
my mother made sure i said that
22:20
growing up shout out to mama's sweat i
22:22
believe that though you know um this is
22:24
an amazing movie the woman king we want
22:26
to encourage each and every one of you
22:27
to go see it at least twice
22:29
because you're going to need to see it
22:30
twice to really start picking up on
22:32
everything because you're going to be so
22:34
you're going to be so entertained by the
22:36
cinematography the the costuming
22:39
on the dialect the cultural aspects of
22:41
what you're going to be introduced to
22:44
that history that you've never even seen
22:45
before the acting is phenomenal
22:48
there's no award
22:50
that equates to what you're going to
22:51
witness on that screen
22:53
it's amazing to see these beautiful
22:54
women i mean the way we hollywood has
22:57
yet to show them so i want to encourage
22:58
you
23:00
take your sons too yes
23:02
men go see this
23:05
men go see this look at a society that
23:07
values a woman's voice and presence the
23:10
same way they would value yours
23:12
go see what that's like that's that's
23:14
how we progress as a community
23:17
that's how we move forward go see this
23:18
movie take your sons take your uncles
23:20
your your fathers i wanted to take mike
23:23
news but he wasn't available friday yeah
23:26
he was at the billy joel concert
23:29
i saw it
23:31
damn put me on front street
23:34
choices
23:42
[Laughter]
23:47
i'm the piano man
23:49
okay but you got a question there mike i
23:51
do one congratulations uh ladies on this
23:54
fantastic film um gina as you know i've
23:56
told you i'm i think you're the most
23:59
talented director out there um so thank
24:01
you for all of your work that you've
24:03
done your direction that you give on
24:05
screen
24:06
and the final cuts is absolutely amazing
24:08
so thank you for your gift
24:10
viola what i have always loved about you
24:12
is that you are comfortable leaning into
24:14
the uncomfortability
24:16
and uh i want to give you a flowers then
24:18
ask you a question uh you were talking
24:21
about making sure dark-skinned women are
24:24
seen and black women are seeing their
24:26
humanity
24:27
for me
24:28
you did that um
24:30
in that show how to get away with murder
24:33
and when you
24:34
peeled off your wig and then when you
24:36
took off your makeup uh in this
24:38
aggressive way
24:40
i think today that is the most powerful
24:43
scene i've seen on the small screen and
24:45
the big screen
24:47
so you did that in showing black women
24:50
and dark-skinned women their humanity
24:52
and so i salute you for that stirring uh
24:56
visual on that scene amen i agree you
24:59
mentioned that most of the times in
25:00
hollywood we see white saviors uh white
25:03
men and white women um but to me i felt
25:06
what you left out to as well then the
25:08
next order is a light-skinned man or a
25:10
light-skinned woman
25:12
and so what bothers me on social media
25:15
is a narrative of team light skin and
25:17
then hashtag team dark skin i think it's
25:19
so damaging to our culture and so i'm
25:22
curious what do you think and hope that
25:25
this movie will moderate in the
25:27
discourse of team dark skin team light
25:30
skin
25:31
white light-skinned women light-skinned
25:32
men mean being the saviors of hollywood
25:36
what do you think and hope this will
25:37
moderate
25:38
i always get the hard questions brother
25:42
you're built for it
25:46
i think that we need to liberate
25:48
ourselves
25:50
from the narrative that we've been given
25:52
since 1612.
25:57
really was created a huge part the paper
26:00
bag test was created by us
26:03
in response
26:04
to
26:05
racism
26:07
let's be honest
26:09
so the closer you were to white the
26:11
better you were
26:13
the house negro the field negro the
26:16
light skin the dark skin the thinner
26:18
nose the thinner lips we can keep going
26:21
on and on and on and on
26:23
we need it's like the black
26:25
consciousness movement in the 60s was
26:27
all about defining ourselves for
26:30
ourselves
26:32
and that's what needs to happen now
26:34
that's is very very sort of abstract but
26:38
i always say that
26:41
if i can go to a movie and sit with
26:44
travis bickle
26:45
in taxi driver if i can sit with jane
26:48
fonda and clute if i can sit with jill
26:51
clayberg and an unmarried woman if i
26:54
could sit with diane keaton and looking
26:56
for mr goodbar i'm look i'm meryl streep
26:58
and kramer versus kramer if i can sit
27:01
and watch the diane carrolls of the
27:03
world the lean horns of the world
27:07
you know we could keep going on and on
27:09
and on and on and on then you could sit
27:11
with me
27:14
and the only way to do that in my
27:17
opinion
27:18
is if
27:19
once again
27:20
if i as a black woman it's what i did
27:23
with annelise keating if i can bust out
27:26
of that stereotype
27:29
and say this is who i am take off the
27:31
makeup take off all of that and be who
27:34
on my wide nose by big my my big lips
27:37
and i can have sex with a man on screen
27:41
put the makeup back on
27:44
get drunk
27:46
be a strong criminal defense attorney
27:48
and show people that i too am a woman
27:52
i too
27:53
there are people out there who are
27:55
attracted to me i show up with my
27:57
husband you have to show up the more you
28:00
show up the more you normalize
28:04
womanhood and what it means to be dark
28:06
skinned
28:07
what it means to be a woman what it
28:10
means to be all that without someone
28:12
dictating what that should mean but you
28:16
have to liberate yourself as opposed to
28:18
just walking in there and letting
28:21
we call it the oppressor you know
28:23
because it's lack of a of a sort of a
28:26
better term instead of letting the
28:27
oppressor define us you define you
28:32
that's the only way to liberate and
28:33
that's why woman king is so powerful
28:36
because you're not just going to get an
28:38
action movie all of these women
28:41
they're humanized and so you have to sit
28:44
with us for two hours and six minutes
28:46
you have to be moved by us you have to
28:48
see us
28:49
that's what we could do as artists well
28:51
now everybody else maybe you could be
28:53
inspired by it if that's an answer to
28:56
the question because that's a big
28:57
question you answered it thank you that
29:00
was the um first of all round of
29:02
applause every time i
29:04
just clap
29:07
i didn't realize the movie was two hours
29:09
and six minutes no i didn't either i
29:12
felt like i wanted it to keep going
29:17
that was the quickest
29:19
six minutes ever is it a sequel gina are
29:21
we working on the sequel
29:23
you know she can't tell you that she
29:24
can't say that she's in trouble she
29:26
can't cheat you you don't know who
29:29
you you're your own boss
29:32
you define your occupation uh we have a
29:35
lot of listeners from all over the
29:36
country and
29:38
in canada and west indies and all these
29:40
different places that are tuned in some
29:42
are here virtual i'll be remissed if i
29:44
didn't
29:45
get give these people opportunity to ask
29:47
you guys questions okay so we're going
29:50
to go to our virtual panel
29:52
and we have lauren
29:54
johnson on the line um
29:56
lauren are you there
30:00
no
30:01
oh yeah she's trying to come up with
30:02
where is she coming
30:04
oh wow we're going with you
30:12
there you go lauren you made it
30:14
we can see you lauren
30:17
okay okay hi you guys um thank you so
30:20
much for having me and wow i'm like
30:22
fangirling but trying to pull together
30:24
because i wrote my question down
30:26
okay my question is
30:28
i think the movie is going to give the
30:30
audience uh beautiful and historic
30:33
glance at african royalty with this
30:36
week's passing of her majesty the queen
30:40
what is your viewpoint on monarchies in
30:43
general and do you view the institutions
30:46
of the dahames and the british monarchy
30:50
the same
30:57
[Laughter]
31:05
[Laughter]
31:14
i think
31:16
what i've really enjoyed about
31:19
the research behind this film and behind
31:22
the kingdom of but the homie
31:24
is
31:25
gathering and understanding that
31:27
all monarchies are different
31:29
um
31:30
depending on where they are what time
31:33
they were in
31:34
you know i i don't know what the um
31:36
the situation is like in dahomey now but
31:39
i know that king gezu in the film was
31:41
very specific about having a male and
31:44
female counterpart throughout his king's
31:46
court and that was
31:48
based off the religion and the belief
31:51
that there were two gods twin gods right
31:54
male and female so he really believed in
31:56
that but his brother before him didn't
31:59
and that just shows the variation and
32:02
diversity that can come
32:04
from different monarchies whether in the
32:05
same place or all around the world
32:08
and i think
32:09
it's important to look at what those
32:11
monarchies are doing for that place i
32:14
think
32:15
the the story of dahomey and its kind of
32:18
you know reverence towards women as well
32:20
as men in society shows in the
32:22
advancements that it brought to that
32:25
society um having the ogoje is a perfect
32:28
example of that having these this army
32:31
of women who also fight alongside the
32:33
male dahomey warriors you know and you
32:35
see that particularly later on in the
32:37
film you see them in tandem you see them
32:39
working together um
32:41
i think
32:42
that's what i would say is something
32:44
that can be garnered from
32:46
monarchy from power recognizing how the
32:50
decisions that it makes can trickle down
32:52
to its you know citizens um and better
32:55
enrich their lives so that's what i
32:56
would say hmm beautiful that was great
32:59
all right
33:00
i was into that
33:03
come on sheila
33:05
lauren thank you for your question
33:06
you're a citizen lauren good morning
33:08
okay um next up i want to go to keisha
33:11
johnson keisha
33:13
keisha johnson and let us know where
33:15
you're calling from if you can keesha
33:17
are you there we're trying to pull you
33:19
up now
33:20
yeah she can't hear she comes there she
33:22
is
33:23
keisha
33:25
good morning everyone
33:27
from sticklerville new jersey
33:30
working in philadelphia children's
33:32
hospital okay
33:34
so i'm really super excited and honored
33:36
to be invited to a panel full of
33:38
beautiful intelligent
33:41
extraordinary black women who inspire
33:44
all brown women and little girls like
33:46
myself
33:47
all of you amaze me and i thank you
33:50
but my question is for the queen miss
33:52
viola davis
33:55
i recall you having some regrets
33:58
when you appeared in the help
34:01
i can honestly say myself i felt your
34:03
pain and share those emotions
34:05
that you spoke of
34:07
after watching the trailer trailer of
34:10
the woman came
34:12
i'm not concerned with any regrets
34:17
confident
34:18
powerful women fighting for their people
34:22
supporting our black men i saw myself in
34:25
this movie
34:26
the glow of your skin the many shades of
34:28
melanin
34:29
the beautiful kinks in your hair i felt
34:32
proud
34:34
so i'd like to ask
34:36
if you had the opportunity
34:38
miss queen viola davis
34:40
to erase all you've done in your career
34:43
prior to this movie
34:45
will woman king
34:47
had been your first choice to be a part
34:49
of because of its deep roots
34:54
um keisha um
34:56
it's a great question um first of all i
35:00
wouldn't have been given a woman king at
35:02
all
35:04
woman king has only come because of how
35:07
to get away with murder
35:09
because of fences because of the help
35:11
because of doubt because of my
35:13
filmography because that's simply how
35:15
the business works
35:17
you don't get um your name above the
35:21
title without having a queue which is
35:24
having some clout in the business
35:26
it's very hard for an unknown to just
35:28
walk into a studio and say hey
35:32
you know
35:33
and studios aren't producing movies like
35:36
woman king i always say i have done the
35:38
best i could with what i've been given
35:40
yes i don't think that people understand
35:43
how hard it is just to get a job as an
35:47
actor yes and your journey in getting
35:51
the woman king
35:52
is like a battle
35:54
it really is especially when you're dark
35:59
once again i always say this
36:02
there's a very great white actress out
36:04
there
36:05
who someone said she makes the great
36:08
greatest choices she really does
36:10
and i always say uh-uh she has the
36:13
greatest choices
36:15
we don't
36:16
okay
36:17
we have to create the choices and you
36:19
have no idea
36:21
one choice that you make
36:23
can take
36:24
seven years 12 years from inception to
36:28
you seeing it on the screen we have a 95
36:32
unemployment rate in this business one
36:34
percent makes 50 000 a year or more and
36:38
.04
36:39
are famous
36:41
that's our profession i know people read
36:43
social media but social media the only
36:46
stories that trickle in there are people
36:48
who are on top because they have the mic
36:50
this does not even represent your
36:52
average actor your average actor would
36:55
be happy to get a geico commercial
36:58
okay because they can get plan one
37:00
health insurance
37:03
the woman king
37:04
is my
37:06
gift
37:07
at
37:08
after a
37:09
33-year career
37:12
at 56 years old literally i was og
37:17
in this after 56 years this has been the
37:20
culmination that's why i say it's my
37:23
magnum opus and by the way i'ma say this
37:26
and it's probably a little bit of
37:28
shameless plug it's a little bit of my
37:30
ego i don't care but me and my husband's
37:33
production company produced this film
37:35
there you go
37:37
yes
37:38
absolutely you and your husband that's a
37:40
round of applause and instead and
37:42
ovation yes keisha thank you for your
37:44
question you're a citizen sway in the
37:46
morning she ain't need no husband and
37:47
boyfriend like me sway
37:49
see she did it with her husband why
37:51
didn't he let me go with my husband
37:54
that's my good friend
37:57
this is a powerful movie this is on my
37:59
top movie list right now absolutely of
38:01
all time i'll give it all time and i
38:03
like a lot of great movies i'm a movie
38:05
buff um gina i want to say
38:07
congratulations to you the way you
38:09
approach this film yes and there's other
38:10
topics that'll be touched on in this
38:12
film in terms of slavery and and
38:15
who sold them and why and you know
38:18
interesting topics that we don't talk
38:20
about we don't touch i'ma say that for
38:22
folks to to watch the film there's also
38:25
under uh uh current um
38:27
topic about adoption that i found to be
38:30
really interesting you know um and um
38:33
all of these different things are being
38:34
touched on in this film uh we don't have
38:36
enough time to get into those two but i
38:38
want to thank you all yes man this was
38:40
awesome mm-hmm this was awesome
38:43
come on
38:46
[Applause]
38:58
without the
38:59
[Applause]
39:08
and viola davis thank you for your
39:09
practice every
39:11
each single time to the entire cast you
39:14
did an awesome job everybody that worked
39:16
on this film congratulations and thank
39:18
you for gifting us yes with your talents
39:21
i can't wait to watch it again i'll be
39:22
watching it again so like i said this is
39:25
a family outing don't go by yourself
39:27
bring the whole family everybody okay uh
39:29
thank you to my team here mike tracy
39:31
have the bee and everybody in production
39:33
that um helped produce this event db
39:37
tone uh chris
39:39
spence bj
39:41
ty drew i'm not sure of your name but
39:44
thank you for being in the studio and
39:45
you too all right give it up one more
39:47
time for the woman king make sure you
39:48
see the movies 20 in the morning shave
39:50
405. coming up next we got db in the mix
39:55
[Music]
39:59
you
#Arts & Entertainment