Five students from Howard, Spelman College, Hampton University and Norfolk State University discussed the film with Viola Davis and Julius Tennon in a roundtable interview.
“G20,” a modern thriller film, follows President Julia Sutton’s (Davis) mission to rescue her family, country and the world after a terrorist attack hijacks the Group of 20 (G20) Summit.
Co-produced by Davis and her husband Tennon, the film stars actors such as Howard alumnus Anthony Anderson, Marsai Martin and Ramón Rodríguez.
Zariah Taylor, a student from Spelman College asked “Viola, What inspirations/references did you have in mind when preparing for this role?”
Davis, the third Black woman ever to achieve the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) awards, did not have many references except for the work of the actor Teresa Graves and Angela Bassett’s role in “Strange Days” to use as inspiration.
“I had a really dynamic script and all I had to do was walk into it,” Davis said.
The new movie belongs to the action genre, which is traditionally and predominantly occupied by white male actors.
According to Statista, the action movie genre was the second most popular movie genre with a gross of over 60 billion dollars in Canada and the U.S. between 1995 to 2024.
The lack of minority representation is a prevalent issue in the film industry. According to a report from USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, the speaking characters from the 100 top films of 2023 were, “55.7% White, 12.6% Black, 5.2% Hispanic/Latino, [and] 18.4% Asian.” In action movies, only 26 percent of films featured women in prominent speaking roles.
From her role as Annalise Keating in “How To Get Away with Murder” to her Oscar-winning role as Rose Maxson in “Fences,” Davis’ past characters show emotional growth.
In this movie, her character is challenged to stay vulnerable, while attempting to save the world and her family in an armed environment.
The conversation immediately dove into the importance of Davis’ portrayal of Danielle Sutton, who is a Black woman president of the United States. Davis revealed her inner motivation to “put things in the world that are different.”
“I want to put things in the world that people don’t see coming. In the past, we have been put in a box for way too long,” she said. “We have this awesome responsibility as artists to reconstruct the narrative that is out there.”
Tennon and Davis co-produced the film, in collaboration with multiple production companies including their own, JuVee Productions.
“It is an awesome opportunity to produce a movie. For Viola and I, it’s always about teamwork,” Tennon said. “You know at the end of the day, there’s gotta be a level of trust and respect that needs to happen when you have to get things done.”
Lauren Cyrus, a student from Hampton University, inquired about the specific messages intended for audiences to receive as it pertains to Davis’ personal growth.
“We have to know that we are born whole. [Worth] is not negotiated when we see that who we are was determined the moment we came out of our parents’ womb,” Davis said.
The actress further emphasized the genre-breaking film’s messaging on authenticity.
“We need to take back the definition of what it means to be a woman, to be Black and to be capable,” she said.
Davis shared the intentions behind the film’s creation.
“I see this as our legacy and if we can pass that baton to the next great runner, I think we can blow the lid off a lot of what we’ve been told [about] who we are,” she said.
The film is set to arrive on Amazon Prime beginning April 10. Howard students are invited to an exclusive advanced screening of the film at the Regal Gallery Place on April 9.
Copy edited by Anijah Franklin
