Watch Viola Davis’ moving Critics’ Choice acceptance speech for #SeeHer Award

Accepting the #SeeHer award at the Critics’ Choice Awards earlier this week, Viola Davis emphasized the importance of seeing diverse types of women onscreen.

Davis, 51, was nominated for best actress for ‘How to Get Away with Murder,’ and received best supporting actress for the movie ‘Fences’ and the first annual #SeeHer award, an honorary award given by an ad industry group seeking to eliminate bias against women in advertising and media.

From ABC News:

Taking the stage after a standing ovation, Davis quipped, “It’s hard to accept being a role model for women when you’re trying to lose weight.”

After laughter from the audience, she continued, “I’ve always discovered the heart of my characters by asking, ‘Why?’ You know, when I was handed [‘How to Get Away With Murder’ character] Annalise Keating, I said, ‘She’s sexy, she’s mysterious.’ I’m used to playing women who gotta gain 40 pounds and wear an apron. So I said, ‘Oh, God, I gotta lose weight. I gotta learn how to walk like Kerry Washington in heels. I gotta lose my belly.’ And then I asked myself, ‘Well, why do I have to do all that?'”

Davis said the “privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. And I recently embraced that at 51.”

Her “strongest power,” she said, is inviting the audience “to come into my world,” on Thursday nights at 10 p.m. for the ABC drama.

“You come into my world, and you sit with me, my size, my hue, my age, and you sit, and you experience. And I think that’s the only power I have as an artist, so I thank you for this award,” she said. “And I do see her — just like I see me.”