Viola Davis Has a message to her hateful friends.

“How can you overcome the hurt and fail?” Viola asked the BBC in an interview. It is essential that you do. You can’t expect every performance to win an award. 

Viola is a former First Lady Michelle Obama in Showtime’s new political drama, The First Lady. Still, some viewers are critical about Michelle’s portrayal. Some Twitter users have pointed out her “exaggerated facial expressions” and “borderline inflicting” expressions since the show premiered on April 17.

Viola acknowledges the dangers of criticism in acting but she said that people can be very hurtful about what you do.

The First Lady—which also stars Michelle Pfeiffer As Betty Ford Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt—follows the three womenas they try to navigate their role in the White House, and the struggles each faces within it.