Viola Davis: How did Meryl Streep Win Over 'The Help' Star?
Meryl Streep's win over Best Actress hot favorite Viola Davis was undoubtedly the biggest surprise of the 2012 Oscars. Davis seemed like a shoe-in for her portrayal of Aibileen Clark in "The Help", after she took out the Screen Actors Guild award last month, a win which has predicted the Academy Award's Best Actress for nine out of the past 11 years.
So what happened? The most talked about theory is that Streep's character British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is a real person. Of the most recent five times actors playing real people have been in the running with actors playing fictitious characters, the real person portrayal has won four out of five times.
It is the same case for the past five actresses who have played real life people, with four out of five winning the award.
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Streep, for whom it was her third win and seventeenth nomination, joked accepting the award she wondered if the country would approve.
"When you called my name, I had this feeling I could hear half of America going, 'Oh, come on, why her again?'...But whatever!" Streep joked once she made her way to the podium to accept her trophy.
A few days prior to the awards the Streep was asked by The Sun if she hoped Davis would win over her, and Streep replied. "Yes, oh yes. I love her and think she's amazing. She deserves and should be at the forefront of our business."
"She's a friend and we've worked together and I'm really fond of her. So we want the best for our friends. Honestly." She added.
Davis took the defeat like a good sport however. She was overheard telling her husband at the Governor's Ball "I had a feeling that would happen," she said.
