Viola Davis: Best Oscar First Arrival

Thankless. It’s thankless to be first on the carpet. Firstly, you know that your reps put you out there as an early bargaining chip. They need someone recognizable and reliable but not too exciting to arrive early so that nobody turns off the TV. So you’re the anchor, but then on social media, everyone’s like ‘enough already, who cares, what was she thinking wearing that anyway?’

Which is why Davis’ easy-breezy “here I am, what do you need to know” attitude is so useful. She’s not pretending that people are clamoring to talk to her, but she is ably up for being the first one to populate the red carpet. Couple it with her green dress that she wore because “it fit and I didn’t bust anything”, and she’s a vision in reasonableness. Reasonable does not, of course, get you a lot of Access Hollywood profiles and Architectural Digest features, but there are worse gigs than “talented stalwart whose fans are loyal and consistent”, aren’t there?