Viola Davis Says Being an Oscar Frontrunner Isn't Always Great: 'It Makes It Worse'

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Viola Davis isn’t counting her chickens before they hatch.

The 51-year-old actress is a frontrunner for Best Supporting Actress at this year’s Academy Awards for her role in Fences. But despite the odds, Davis says she’s feeling a lot of pressure.

"Do you have any other people left to thank at the Oscars, because you are the odds on favorite to win?” Jimmy Kimmel asked Davis on Thursday, during her guest appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. “In fact, some say you're a lock to win."


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“You know I’ve been the odds-on favorite to win before and did not?” Davis replied. “It’s devastating. It makes it worse. You're sitting there and you're like, 'OK, I'm the odds-on favorite.' And then your name is not called.”

The How to Get Away With Murder star explained that it’s easier going into an award show not expecting to win, that way you won’t end up so disappointed.

"It's like falling from a 100-story building,” she joked. “If you know you're losing, it's like falling from a one-story building."


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“Who writes these great speeches that you give?” Kimmel asked. “Do you write them?”

"I write them, Jimmy. They're off the cuff," she said before asking Kimmel, "You want me to help you for the Oscars?"

"Don't worry: I'm not going to win anything," Kimmel replied, laughing. "But I'll take anything I can get."

Hear more on how Davis is already making Oscar history in the video below.