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- #10 in Emmy Award
- #13 in Overcoming Adversity
- #14 in Child Poverty
- #23 in Race
- #24 in Entertainers
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Viola Davis
Academy Award Winning Actress for Her Role in "Fences"; Emmy Award Winner for Her Role in "How To Get Away With Murder;" Hunger Is Ambassador
Classically trained, award-winning actor, Viola Davis has conquered every medium from stage to television to film. From her Tony Award-winning performances in “King Hedley II” and “Fences” to her Academy Award-nominated performances in “The Help” and “Doubt,” Davis has burst through every barrier to become one of the most accomplished and celebrated actors today.
Davis began her career on stage and won an Obie Award in 1999 for her performance as Ruby McCollum in Everybody's Ruby. Davis' film breakthrough came in 2008 when her supporting role in the drama Doubt earned her several nominations, including the Golden Globe, SAG, and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
In “The Help,” Davis captivated audiences and critics alike with her portrayal of Aibileen Clark. Davis earned a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Leading Role, a Critics Choice Award for Best Actress, and was also nominated for the Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and British Academy Film Award. The film also won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and a Critics Choice Award for Best Acting Ensemble.
For her role of Rose Maxson in the film adaptation of Fences, Davis won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Critics' Choice Award, SAG Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Other notable films include “Beautiful Creatures,” “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” “Knight and Day” with Tom Cruise, and “Eat Pray Love” starring opposite Julia Roberts and “Get on Up” the story of James Brown’s rise from poverty to fame. Davis also played Amanda Waller in 2016's "Suicide Squad."
For her portrayal of lawyer Annalise Keating in Shonda Rhimes-produced series, “How to Get Away with Murder” on ABC, Davis won two SAG Awards in 2015 and 2016 and became the first black woman to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2015.
Rising out of "the absolute epitome of poverty," Davis fell in love with theater early in high school as a form of escape. Her passion and growing abilities for acting would pay off with a full scholarship to the Young Peoples School of the Performing Arts before attending the prestigious Julliard School for four years. In 1996, Davis hit the acting trifecta by earning roles on Broadway (“Seven Guitars”), TV (“NYPD Blue”), and film (“The Substance of Fire”).
Equally passionate is her dedication to ensure that women of color are part of the narrative, on all artistic platforms. On raising the profiles and stories of young women of color, Davis says, "I want to do what Cicely Tyson did to me... she allowed me to have the visual of what it means to dream." It's this type of ideology and commitment that TIME saw when they named Davis as "one of the most influential people of 2012 and 2017.
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Speech Topics
The Journey of a Hero
An inspirational voice who discusses her career and how overcoming adversities and preconceived restrictions have contributed to becoming a stronger woman.
News
"I was the loneliest woman in the world," the Beautiful Creatures says of being single.
The Beautiful Creatures star says "people need to see an African American in the 21st century" who is "not in servitude"
McCann Worldgroup & The Paley Center for Media are very proud to announce that the critically revered film, theater and TV actress Viola Davis will be joining the “Creativity is the Only Way to Survive” seminar they are hosting at the 2015 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Monday, June 22, 2015 at 1pm.
The Safeway Foundation and the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) announced they have raised more than $5.5 million through customer donations to Hunger Is, a joint charitable initiative designed to raise awareness and funds to end childhood hunger in America.
The 67th Primetime Emmy Awards show was one that will go down in history after Viola Davis won Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series for her role in ...
"I would befriend kids whose mothers cooked three meals a day and go to their homes when I could," Viola Davis says.
They may have been competing for the same award, but that wasn't about to get between Kerry Washington and Viola Davis's friendship. The two actresses cuddled up for some photos on the red carpet at the NAACP Image Awards in Pasadena, California on Friday. Kerry, 39, and Viola, 50, - who were both nominated for Outstanding Actress In A Drama Series but lost out to Taraji P. Henson - each wore white dresses, but showcased their different styles at the same time.
Our hair is a constant evolution—should we wear it curly, straight, use chemicals, cut it off? And even when we’ve decided on a particular style, sometimes it’s hard to maintain. Throw in caring for your daughter’s hair, and it can be complete chaos. Viola Davis feels many of those same frustrations when dealing with her daughter’s hair. “I invest so much into her life, but if her hair isn’t right then I’m not a good mother,” she says. “But, like India Arie says, ‘I’m not my hair.’ Well, I am my hair, but there’s so much more to me.”
Advocating for victims of sexual assault is one of her passions. And How to Get Away with Murder star Viola Davis was honored for her hard work at The Rape Foundation Annual Brunch in Beverly Hills on Sunday.
Viola Davis will star in Steve McQueen's upcoming heist thriller "Widows."
Viola Davis and her husband Julius Tennon's daughter Genesis may only be five years old but she already wants to go into the family business. "She says she ...
Viola Davis' own experiences with sexual assault led her to become an advocate for the Rape Foundation, the actress explained in a powerful speech Sunday.
Viola Davis is ready to teach us how to get away with heisting.
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