HB Exclusive: Actress Amethyst Davis Talks Her Southern Roots
Black Women’s History Month: ‘The Gray House’ Star Amethyst Davis Embraces Her Southern Roots In Prime Video Civil War Drama
- Davis' Southern roots and acting skills made her the perfect fit for the role of Mary Jane Richards, a formerly enslaved woman turned Union spy.
- The role required Davis to tap into her personal experiences of being underestimated as a Black woman, which she brought to the character.
- Having executive producers like Morgan Freeman and Kevin Costner on the project opened doors for Davis and other new faces to lead the show.
April is International Black Women’s History Month, and though we celebrate Black women year-round, we’re using this month to place even more emphasis on Black women who are making their mark across beauty, fashion, entertainment, and more.
Today, we are highlighting actress Amethyst Davis, who stars in Prime Video’s The Gray House. The historical drama, executive produced by Morgan Freeman and Kevin Costner, follows the lives of unsung women in the Confederate South who worked as spies for the Union during the American Civil War.
Davis plays “Mary Jane Richards,” a formerly enslaved woman who returns from Liberia and later joins the spy ring. Mary Jane is not one to be messed with. She is an intelligent, confident, and well-traveled woman who helped turn the tides of history, like many other hidden Black woman figures of the past.
Now, Davis is taking on her story proudly as a Southern woman who used her South Carolinian roots to bring both authenticity and accuracy to her audition and callbacks, making her an undeniable fit for this role.
‘I think these stories deserve honor and dignity, and somebody like me that’s from America, that’s from the South,” Davis told HelloBeautiful’s Char Masona. “All four of my grandparents are from here, and all four of my grandparents are Black.”
Read more of our conversation with Davis below:
HelloBeautiful: Talk to us about what inspired you. What made you want to say yes to this project?
Amethyst Davis: Well, I have always thought I wanted to play a real person. I thought I would be playing some famous singer or something, but I have always wanted to play a real person, so I thought that was a cool story in that aspect.
These stories deserve honor and dignity, and somebody like me, who’s from America, that’s from the South, all four of my grandparents are from here, and all four of my grandparents are Black. I just felt like, why not me? Why am I not the person to tell this story?
HelloBeautiful: And how did [this role] come about? Did you audition for it?
Amethyst Davis: [I] auditioned. Luckily, I had an Atlanta agent, but most of the time I was auditioning for co-stars, recurring co-stars, one-liners. I was auditioning for everything. Every now and then, I would get a lead audition, and I really wasn’t thinking anything of it. I was like, ‘oh, cool, I got this.’ It said they were looking in the US and they were looking in the UK, and I’m like, ‘oh, they’re probably not gonna pick me, but hey, let’s have fun, let’s put this on tape.’
And then I got the callback 2 months later and it was my first callback. I had booked other things, but they just booked me straight from the tape. Luckily, I had been in class, I knew what to do. They were impressed. Second callback, they [were] like, ‘dang, you did it again!’
And then I met with the producers in person, and they were like, we just want to talk with you. Can you handle this? Are you able to go overseas for months? Is your family gonna miss you? They just ask all kinds of questions like that, and I’m like, yeah I’m ready. This is my dream.
HelloBeautiful: Earlier, you were talking about your Southern roots — how does that connect you to Mary Jane?
Amethyst Davis: I think it is the reason why I was able to book this role so early on, because [as] actors, we’re chameleons. I can play all kinds of roles, and I audition for all types of roles.
But, early on, when you’re not well-known, you’re probably gonna audition for stuff that is specific to you, that you can do just better than everybody for no real reason other than, ‘yes, I’m a good actor.’ I’ve learned how to do on-camera training, but my family is Southern. I’ve lived in the South my whole life, I understand different accents, [the plot was] in Virginia. The Virginia accent is different, but it’s just still something in me that hasn’t left me, that I could bring to Mary Jane.
HelloBeautiful: How did you tap into the Virginia accent, especially for that time period?
Amethyst Davis: For the audition, they gave us some recordings of real-life people during that time period. And so I listened to those, I listened to some other recordings, and I trusted myself. I was already confident in it; I wasn’t scared of the dialect. And, of course, I took some liberties. And I mean, it just all came together.
HelloBeautiful: This show highlights these unsung women and how intelligent they were. We see this especially being able to pull off something like an espionage operation in such a dangerous time. How did you tap into that?
Amethyst Davis: Unfortunately, being a Black woman and people judge you today, still. Just off of how you look, or how you present yourself, or maybe their own biases. I spent time in the military, and that’s a very male-dominated area, so you really do have to prove yourself.
Sometimes being a cute girl, that’s not good. People are gonna be like, ‘oh, she’s gonna be lazy’ and you have to prove yourself. People underestimate you, and I had to bring my real-life experience from work environments, school, or whatever environments I’ve been in, and how people have underestimated me, or they put their own judgment on me. Then I have to be like, ‘no, I’m Amethyst, I would like you to get to know me, for me.’
HelloBeautiful: There’s a part in the first episode, when she’s asked to show her freedom papers, and she revealed that she could read.
Mary Jane was an educated, free Black woman who had lived in Liberia and played a key role in a Union spy ring during the civil war. Her story connects to those of many Black women, who are often underestimated. How does her story relate to your personal experience?
Amethyst Davis: So, in the 1860s, it [was] dangerous to be educated. It was basically illegal for enslaved people to learn to read, to be educated.
And jumping to now, Black women being [one of] the most educated group[s] of women. However, in this country, it’s just so interesting, because I see why they were trying to hold us back. I see why they were trying to hold us back, not saying they should be scared, but I see.
So I did think about that early on in my prep for the character. Once I get into the hair, makeup, costume, because she’s sick at the very beginning. [I think of] how I’m gonna walk, how I’m gonna feel if I was sick, if I hadn’t had any water for 2 weeks and I get all that in my body.
And [in that scene], I [was] thinking of when somebody tried to talk to me like I’m dumb. Like, I’m not educated on whatever the matter is.
HelloBeautiful: This is your first leading role, are you experiencing [anything new]? More eyes on you, more followers, a little more fame?
Amethyst Davis: A little bit more followers, not necessarily more famous. I would say with my career, since we already filmed this in 2023, so it’s been a long time coming and we’ve already done private screenings within the industry.
And so within that, I already got the LA manager. So I’ve already been able to audition for more leads. Within the 2 years before it came out, I was already behind the scenes in the industry, [and] able to audition for bigger roles, which is great [and] fun. It’s like, ‘oh, now you’re in rooms that you weren’t in before,’ which is more challenging, and the competition is steeper, but so that’s what I would say would be the biggest change so far.
HelloBeautiful: We see names like Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman attached as executive producers. Did you get to meet them at all?
Amethyst Davis: Yeah, they were behind the scenes, so I met them afterward, like, literally at the screenings.
HelloBeautiful: What does it mean to have names like that behind a project like this?
Amethyst Davis: I’m just so grateful for them, because of them executive producing this, this is why new faces can be on TV. So, this is why they can just pick people off of talent, and off of authenticity, and not off of [having] someone that’s been in the industry for 20 years, that everyone knows their face.
So I’m just so grateful for them, because if it wasn’t for them, they might not have picked me. They would have picked someone else who could have done the role as well, just maybe differently, but they would have just been more popular.
HelloBeautiful: What does it mean to you to be part of telling a story like this?
Amethyst Davis: I feel really blessed to have this in my body of work. I don’t know what else I’m going to be able to do in my career, but to just already have this…
And, it’s just something that’s always gonna be there. People, every year, I’m sure more people will hear about it every Black History Month, maybe somebody will bring it up every Women’s History Month, hopefully somebody will bring it up, and I’m just really happy to be able to have that to be something in my legacy.
If I don’t do anything else, at least I was Mary Jane Richards. Nobody can take that from me.
Black Women’s History Month: ‘The Gray House’ Star Amethyst Davis Embraces Her Southern Roots In Prime Video Civil War Drama was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
