Viola Davis Net Worth

Viola Davis's Quotes

• We grew up in abject poverty. Acting, writing scripts and skits were a way of escaping our environment at a very young age.
• [on why she's not inspired to direct] I can't deal with actors! I can't deal with myself. We're neurotic and miserable... I love doing what I'm doing, but while I'm doing it, I'm miserable.
• [on undertaking the role of Aibileen Clark in The Help (2011)] I absolutely feel that she just had the nurturing instinct. You know, it's like my mom. She's said she's taken care of kids since she was four years old, and she's now sixty-eight. That's all she knew, which was to take care of kids. She also had seventeen of her brothers and sisters and cousins and all of that - and she was always taking care of them. I myself was delivered by my grandmother.
• The thing about the African-American community compared with the white community is, we are more concerned with image and message than execution. I don't play roles that are necessarily attractive or portray a positive image. They are well-rounded characters. When you squelch excellence to put out a message it's like passing the baton and seeing it drop.
• [on roles for African-American actresses] You're not doing the Irish and Scottish accents they taught at Juilliard. In the real world you're doing Ebonics and Jamaican.

Interesting Facts about Viola Davis

1. Daughter of Mary Alice (Logan) and Dan Davis, both originally of South Carolina. Dan was a horse-groomer for the Narragansett and Lincoln Downs racetracks in Rhode Island.
2. Won Broadway's 2001 Tony Award as Best Actress (Featured Role - Play) for August Wilson's "King Hedley II". She had previously been nominated in the same category in 1996 for another Wilson play, "Seven Guitars".
3. Won the 2005 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for "Intimate Apparel" (2004).
4. Attended and graduated from Rhode Island College in Providence, Rhode Island (1988), where she majored in theater. She later received an honorary degree in Fine Arts from the college (2002).
5. After her graduation from Rhode Island College, she attended the Juilliard School in New York City for four years, and was a member of the school Drama Division "Group 22" (1989-1993).
6. Grew up in Central Falls, Rhode Island. Her family moved there when she was 2-months old.
7. Inducted into the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) on June 30, 2009.
8. Has an adoptive daughter: Genesis Tennon (b. July 10, 2010) with husband, Julius Tennon.
9. In 2012, Davis told Entertainment Weekly that she and her husband stayed at George Clooney's Italian estate on Lake Como for their honeymoon.
10. Is one of 10 African-American actresses to be Oscar-nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role. The others in chronological order are Dorothy Dandridge, Diana Ross, Cicely Tyson, Diahann Carroll, Whoopi Goldberg, Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Gabourey Sidibe and Quvenzhané Wallis.
11. Is one of two African-American actresses (the other being Whoopi Goldberg) to be nominated for an Academy Award in both the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories.
12. Returned to work 4 months after adopting her daughter Genesis to begin filming Ender's Game (2013).
13. Named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World (2012).
14. Named Glamour magazine's Film Actress of the Year (2012).
15. Won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in "Fences" (2010).
16. As of 2017, has appeared in four films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Traffic (2000), Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011), The Help (2011) and Fences (2016).
17. Is the first black actress to receive an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for How to Get Away with Murder (2014).
18. Shared the cover of Vanity Fair magazine's 2016 Hollywood issue with, Jane Fonda, Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence, Charlotte Rampling, Rachel Weisz, Lupita Nyong'o, Brie Larson, Alicia Vikander, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Helen Mirren, Diane Keaton and Saoirse Ronan. Photographed by Annie Leibovitz.
19. Is one of five actresses to receive an Oscar nomination for a performance with less than 10 minutes of screen time.
20. She was nominated for the 1996 Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for "Seven Guitars" on Broadway in New York City.