Viola Davis
Viola Davis (born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of numerous accolades, Davis is one of the few performers to have been awarded an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony (EGOT); additionally, she is the sole African-American to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting as well as the third person to achieve both statuses. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2017, and in 2020, The New York Times ranked her ninth on its list of the greatest actors of the 21st century.
Davis began her career in Central Falls, Rhode Island, appearing in small stage productions. After graduating from the Juilliard School in 1993, she won an Obie Award in 1999 for her performance as Ruby McCollum in Everybody's Ruby. She played minor roles in film and television in the late 1990s and early 2000s, before earning the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role as Tonya in the 2001 Broadway production of August Wilson's King Hedley II. Her film breakthrough came with her role as a troubled mother in the drama Doubt (2008), for which she received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Davis won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her role as Rose Maxson in the Broadway revival of August Wilson's play Fences.
For starring as a 1960s housemaid in the comedy-drama The Help (2011), Davis received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. From 2014 to 2020, she played lawyer Annalise Keating in the ABC drama series How to Get Away with Murder, for which she became the first black actress to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2015. In 2016, Davis reprised the role of Maxson in the film adaptation of Fences, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She played Amanda Waller in the DC Extended Universe, beginning with Suicide Squad (2016). In 2020, she portrayed Ma Rainey in the biopic Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, for which she received a fourth Academy Award nomination, becoming the most-Oscar-nominated black actress. Her performances in Widows (2018) and The Woman King (2022) earned her further nominations for the BAFTA Best Actress Award, making her the most-BAFTA-nominated black actress.
Davis and her husband, Julius Tennon, are founders of a production company, JuVee Productions. Davis is also widely recognized for her advocacy and support of human rights and equal rights for women and women of color. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2017 and became a L'Oréal Paris ambassador in 2019. The audiobook narration of her 2022 memoir Finding Me earned Davis a Grammy Award in 2023.
Acted in
Creature Commandos
2024
as Amanda Waller (voice)
Kung Fu Panda 4
2024
as The Chameleon (voice)
Predator or Prey: Making The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
2024
as Self (Dr. Volumnia Gaul)
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
2023
as Dr. Volumnia Gaul
Air
2023
as Deloris Jordan
Black Adam
2022
as Amanda Waller (uncredited)
The Woman King
2022
as Nanisca
Oprah + Viola: A Netflix Special Event
2022
as Self
The First Lady
2022
as Michelle Obama
Peacemaker
2022
as Amanda Waller (uncredited)
The Unforgivable
2021
as Liz Ingram
The Suicide Squad
2021
as Amanda Waller
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
2020
as Ma Rainey
Dear...
2020
as Self
Celebrity IOU
2020
as Self
Giving Voice
2020
as Self
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times"
2019
as Florida Evans
On Broadway
2019
as Self (archive footage)
A Touch of Sugar
2019
as Narrator
Troop Zero
2019
as Miss Rayleen
Widows
2018
as Veronica Rawlings
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
2018
as Self (archive footage)
Fences
2016
as Rose Maxson
Suicide Squad
2016
as Amanda Waller
The Warrior, The Myth, The Wonder
2016
as Self
Custody
2016
as Martha Schulman
Lila & Eve
2015
as Lila Walcott
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
2015
Blackhat
2015
as Carol Barrett
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her
2014
as Professor Lillian Friedman
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him
2014
as Professor Lillian Friedman
How to Get Away with Murder
2014
as Annalise Keating
Get on Up
2014
as Susie Brown
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them
2014
as Professor Lillian Friedman
Ender's Game
2013
as Major Gwen Anderson
Prisoners
2013
as Nancy Birch
Love, Marilyn
2013
as Self
Beautiful Creatures
2013
as Amma Treadeau
Won't Back Down
2012
as Nona Alberts
Scandal
2012
as Annalise Keating
Honest Trailers
2012
as Dr. Volumnia Gaul (archive footage)
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
2011
as Abby Black
Touch of Evil
2011
as The Vengeful Caretaker
The Help
2011
as Aibileen Clark
It's Kind of a Funny Story
2010
as Dr. Eden Minerva
Trust
2010
as Gail Friedman
Eat Pray Love
2010
as Delia Shiraz
Knight and Day
2010
as CIA Director Isabel George
Beyond All Boundaries
2009
as Hortense Johnson
Law Abiding Citizen
2009
as Mayor April Henry
State of Play
2009
as Dr. Judith Franklin
Doubt: Stage to Screen
2009
as Self
Madea Goes to Jail
2009
as Ellen
United States of Tara
2009
Doubt
2008
as Mrs. Miller
Nights in Rodanthe
2008
as Jean
The Andromeda Strain
2008
as Dr. Charlene Barton
Jesse Stone: Sea Change
2007
as Molly Crane
Traveler
2007
as Agent Jan Marlow
Disturbia
2007
as Detective Parker
The Architect
2006
as Tonya Neely
Brothers and Sisters
2006
as Ellen Snyder
Life Is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story
2006
as Diane Barrino
World Trade Center
2006
as Mother in Hospital with Donna
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
2006
as Tonya (segment "King Hedley II")
Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise
2006
as Molly Crane
Jesse Stone: Night Passage
2006
as Officer Molly Crane
Syriana
2005
as CIA Chairwoman
Get Rich or Die Tryin'
2005
as Grandma
Threshold
2005
Stone Cold
2005
as Molly Crane
Century City
2004
Antwone Fisher
2002
as Eva May
Solaris
2002
as Gordon
Far from Heaven
2002
as Sybil
Hack
2002
as Stevie Morgan
Without a Trace
2002
as Audrey Williams
Kate & Leopold
2001
as Policewoman
Ocean's Eleven
2001
as Parole Board Interrogator (voice) (uncredited)
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
2001
as Sergeant Terry Randolph
The Shrink Is In
2001
as Robin
Amy & Isabelle
2001
as Dottie
The Division
2001
Traffic
2000
as Social Worker
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
2000
as Attorney Campbell
City of Angels
2000
as Lynnette Peeler
Third Watch
1999
as Margo Rodriguez
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999
as Donna Emmett
Judging Amy
1999
as Celeste
Providence
1999
as Dr. Eleanor Weiss
Grace & Glorie
1998
as Rosemary Allbright
Out of Sight
1998
as Moselle
The Pentagon Wars
1998
as Sgt. Fanning
Miss Apprehension and Squirt
1998
as Sharon Hughes
The Practice
1997
as Aisha Crenshaw
The Substance of Fire
1996
as Nurse
NYPD Blue
1993
as Woman
Tony Awards
1956
as Self - Presenter
The Oscars
1953
as Self
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Rosemary Allbright
Operation Othello
as Narrator
Two Butterflies
I Almost Forgot About You
as Dr. Georgia Young
G20
as Taylor Sutton
Small Great Things
The Personal History of Rachel DuPree
as Rachel Dupree
Waller
as Amanda Waller