Viola Davis is one of the most celebrated American actresses of her generation. She worked hard achieve her success in the industry, and as a result, became the youngest and first African American actor to win the “triple crown of acting” which includes earning an Academy Award, Emmy Award, and Tony Award.
Raised Rhode Island, she escaped the stress of her family’s financial struggles by watching movies and discovered her love for acting in high school. She earned scholarships and enrolled at Rhode Island College, where she studied theater and graduated in 1988, before attending the famed Juilliard School of Performing Arts in New York City.
While she made her Broadway debut in “Seven Guitars” in 1996, her film career only took off in 2008 with “Doubt,” for which she earned her first Oscar nomination.
Throughout her career, she she has appeared on TV, film, and the stage. She is the first Black actress to win two Tony Awards (“Fences” and “King Hedley II”), an Oscar (“Fences”), and an Emmy (“How to Get Away with Murder”). The latter also earned her the title of the first African American woman to win a Best Actress Emmy.
Earlier this year, she made history again as the most-nominated Black actress ever in Oscar’s history after landing her fourth nomination for her lead role in Netflix's “Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.”
When she is not acting, she uses her voice to bring social issues to the forefront. In 2012, she also co-founded a production company, JuVee Productions, focusing on producing independent media and aiming to normalize people of color on screen.
“We’re not social statements. We’re not mythical creatures all the time...you can literally put pen to paper and write a great story that includes people of color, and it could actually sell,” she said.
Over the years, thanks to her hard work and determination, she has clearly become one of the most inspiring women of the century. She once explained: “You have two stark choices when you find yourself in a really desperate situation. You can either fold and cave-in to it or you can become really passionate about getting out of it.”