{blackbabes} Viola Davis was hesitant about 'Help' role

Viola Davis' quiet, powerful performance in the upcoming movie adaption of Kathryn Stockett's best-selling novel The Help has "Oscar nomination" written all over it. But, that doesn't mean she was thrilled about playing a suffering black maid in segregated 1960s Mississippi.

"Of course I had trepidations. Why do I have to play the mammy? But what do you do as an actor if one of the most multifaceted and rich roles you've ever been given is a maid in 1962 Mississippi?" she admits to Essence magazine in its August issue. "Do you not take the role because you feel like in some ways it's not a good message to send to Black people? No. The message is the quality of the work. That is the greater message."

She adds, however, that as a black woman, she's familiar with frequently having to power through difficult situations.

"As Black women, we're always given these seemingly devastating experiences—experiences that could absolutely break us. But what the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls the butterfly. What we do as Black women is take the worst situations and create from that point."

And, on a lighter note, how does she keep that enviable figure in shape? "My husband is an ex-linebacker. We hike, work out with the kettlebells, you name it. I just want to be my best self."

The August issue of Essence is on newsstands Tuesday and The Help hits theaters on August 10.