Photos of Viola Davis training make people talk.
The 55-year-old actress shared with coach Gabriela Mclain a look at one of her recent workouts that she said helped her “get back in shape after gaining weight to play” the title character in Ma Rainey’s black ass.
For the film, now airing on Netflix, the Academy Award winner said she gained as much weight as “I could” to look like Rainey, “but [the blues singer] it was really big, close to 300 pounds. We reached almost 200 ”, with the rest, a lined suit, created by the costume designer, Ann Roth modeled after the measurements of Aretha Franklin.
Davis, who had to climb (Help) and down (Arise) the ladder for his many roles, clearly removed all of Rainey’s weight, as he seems superfluous in training photos. There were a lot of flame emoji reactions in the comments – and more praise:
Holly Robinson Peete wrote, “God, sis, no one is so cute.”
Eva Longoria said: “I mean you can look more beautiful !!!”
Tina Knowles Lawson quoted Beyoncé’s daughter as “Brown Skin Girl” and wrote, “Pearl skin / the best thing in the world.” superb. “
Ana Navarro wrote: “Please tell [me] just position and do [a] photo shoot for an athletics company because honestly no one should be allowed to look so good while training. “
Actually was from a photo shoot with shutter Shamar Benoit, according to Mclain – and included Davis’ husband, actor and producer Julius Tennon, with whom he works regularly.
More photos from the training photo session:
For the record, the body’s positive advocate, Jameela Jamil, says Davis “looked beautiful in both directions.”
In a recent interview with Women’s health, Mclain, who has worked with Davis for two years, said they recently trained for Davis’ future role in the historical action film The King’s Woman. In it, she portrays Nanisca, the general of an exclusively female military unit in eighteenth-century Africa, so they worked to keep Davis’ body strong but flexible “like a bad ninja.”
Davis trains with Mclain about three days a week, one-hour sessions, strength training, core work, sculpture and cardio, including kickboxing.
Last year, Davis – a mother of one – revealed she had been diagnosed with pre-diabetes, saying Daily health, “I was shocked because I always find myself exercising and eating well. I felt fantastic. But here you are. The blood doesn’t lie.” She said his plan was to “manage him like a warrior” with training and a Paleo diet.
Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: