The Help best actress nomination has tattooed itself in my mind because there was so much controversy coming at me after playing a maid and for being in a movie where the white gaze was so prevalent. With that nomination, I felt like I was being pitted against one of my favorites, Meryl Streep, for her role in Iron Lady and everyone was saying, “Let’s see who wins.” Very exciting for the audience. Not so much on my end.
