LOS ANGELES, Jan 9 — Viola Davis yesterday won the best supporting actress Golden Globe for the big screen adaptation of August Wilson’s play Fences — the story of a working-class African-American family in the 1950s.

Davis bested Naomie Harris (Moonlight), Nicole Kidman (Lion), Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures) and Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea).

"It’s not every day that Hollywood thinks of translating a play to screen. It doesn’t scream moneymaker, you know? But it does scream art. It does scream heart,” said Davis, who also won a Tony for the same role.

She thanked co-star and director Denzel Washington, calling him an "extraordinary leader.” Washington is nominated in the best actor category.

She dedicated the award to her father Dan Davis.

"Born in 1936, groomed horses, had a fifth grade education, didn’t know how to read until he was 15. But you know what? He had a story. And it deserved to be told. And August Wilson told it,” she told the audience at the Beverly Hilton. — AFP