On Sunday night, Viola Davis was honored with the first ever See Her Award at the Critics Choice Awards in recognition of how much her work furthers the portrayal of three-dimensional women on screen.

Davis stars in the ABC Shondaland series “How to Get Away with Murder” and will be seen int he upcoming awards season film “Fences.” She was nominated for both at Sunday night’s ceremony, and nabbed the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Film.

Her inspiring #SeeHer acceptance speech started out by going into the lengths that actresses, and women in general, go to achieve the standards of beauty thrust upon them.

“It’s hard to accept being a role model for women when you’re trying to lose weight. I’ve always discovered the heart of my characters by asking, ‘Why?’ You know, when I was handed [the role of] Annalise Keating [in ‘How to Get Away with Murder’], 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 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?’”

She ultimately realized that she doesn’t have to do those things. Davis’ on-screen personas have succeeded in increasing awareness of diversity of women’s bodies, colors, and ages for women in Hollywood and everywhere.

“At 10:00 every Thursday night, you come into my world and you sit with me, my size, my hue, my age, and you sit and you experience,” she said.

Davis was the first African-American woman to win the Emmy Award for Best Lead Actress in a Drama for her work on “How to Get Away with Murder.” She’s a two-time Academy Award nominee, and many believe that this year will be the year that she brings home that golden statue for her work in “Fences.”

Watch the inspiring speech below.