Viola Davis recalls being told that Black actors thought she wasn't pretty enough to star in How to Get Away with Murder

The Hollywood Reporter

A New York Times Magazine profile of Davis, timed to the release of her memoir later this month, notes that the actress was known for playing "strong, tough, sharp but sexually neutered women, as if the deepness of her skin tone and her sensuality were inversely correlated" before she was offered the role of Annalise Keating. A friend told her that she overheard some male and female actors, all of whom were Black, say she wasn't pretty enough for the role. Davis admits she was terrified by the role after all the racial criticisms she heard in her career, but opted to take it anyway.