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.
Doubt: Stage to Screen
(Self)
Solaris
(Gordon)
Operation Othello
(Narrator)
Get Rich or Die Tryin'
(Grandma)
World Trade Center
(Mother in Hospital with Donna)
Far from Heaven
(Sybil)
Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise
(Molly Crane)
Law Abiding Citizen
(Mayor April Henry)
Stone Cold
(Molly Crane)
Jesse Stone: Night Passage
(Officer Molly Crane)
Disturbia
(Detective Parker)
The Pentagon Wars
(Sgt. Fanning)
Nights in Rodanthe
(Jean)
Doubt
(Mrs. Miller)
Madea Goes to Jail
(Ellen)
Knight and Day
(CIA Director Isabel George)
Eat Pray Love
(Delia Shiraz)
Trust
(Gail Friedman)
State of Play
(Dr. Judith Franklin)
The Shrink Is In
(Robin)
Ender's Game
(Major Gwen Anderson)
The Help
(Aibileen Clark)
Two Butterflies
Won't Back Down
(Nona Alberts)
On Broadway
(Self (archive footage))
Love, Marilyn
(Self)
Amy & Isabelle
(Dottie)
Beautiful Creatures
(Amma Treadeau)
Prisoners
(Nancy Birch)
Oprah + Viola: A Netflix Special Event
(Self)
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them
(Professor Lillian Friedman)
I Almost Forgot About You
(Dr. Georgia Young)
Blackhat
(Carol Barrett)
The Substance of Fire
(Nurse)
Get on Up
(Susie Brown)
Air
(Deloris Jordan)
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her
(Professor Lillian Friedman)
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
(Abby Black)
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him
(Professor Lillian Friedman)
Black Adam
(Amanda Waller (uncredited))
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
(Dr. Volumnia Gaul)
Kung Fu Panda 4
(The Chameleon (voice))
Suicide Squad
(Amanda Waller)
Lila & Eve
(Lila Walcott)
G20
(Taylor Sutton)
The Architect
(Tonya Neely)
Predator or Prey: Making The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
(Self (Dr. Volumnia Gaul))
It's Kind of a Funny Story
(Dr. Eden Minerva)
Miss Apprehension and Squirt
(Sharon Hughes)
Giving Voice
(Self)
Ocean's Eleven
(Parole Board Interrogator (voice) (uncredited))
Touch of Evil
(The Vengeful Caretaker)
Jesse Stone: Sea Change
(Molly Crane)
Custody
(Martha Schulman)
The Warrior, The Myth, The Wonder
(Self)
Fences
(Rose Maxson)
Kate & Leopold
(Policewoman)
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
Out of Sight
(Moselle)
Antwone Fisher
(Eva May)
Traffic
(Social Worker)
Small Great Things
The Personal History of Rachel DuPree
(Rachel Dupree)
Syriana
(CIA Chairwoman)
Widows
(Veronica Rawlings)
Troop Zero
(Miss Rayleen)
Beyond All Boundaries
(Hortense Johnson)
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
(Self (archive footage))
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
(Tonya (segment "King Hedley II"))
The Suicide Squad
(Amanda Waller)
Life Is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story
(Diane Barrino)
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
(Ma Rainey)
The Unforgivable
(Liz Ingram)
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times"
(Florida Evans)
A Touch of Sugar
(Narrator)
The Woman King
(Nanisca)
Grace & Glorie
(Rosemary Allbright)
Third Watch
(Margo Rodriguez)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
(Attorney Campbell)
Threshold
The Division
Providence
(Dr. Eleanor Weiss)
Judging Amy
(Celeste)
Traveler
(Agent Jan Marlow)
Without a Trace
(Audrey Williams)
NYPD Blue
(Woman)
The Practice
(Aisha Crenshaw)
60 Minutes
(Self)
Century City
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
(Self)
Hallmark Hall of Fame
(Rosemary Allbright)
United States of Tara
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
(Sergeant Terry Randolph)
City of Angels
(Lynnette Peeler)
The Andromeda Strain
(Dr. Charlene Barton)
E! Live from the Red Carpet
(Self)
The Oscars
(Self)
How to Get Away with Murder
(Annalise Keating)
Tony Awards
(Self - Presenter)
C ce soir, le débat
(Self - Guest)
Brothers and Sisters
(Ellen Snyder)
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
(Self)
The Problem with Jon Stewart
(Self (archive footage))
Peacemaker
(Amanda Waller (uncredited))
Dear...
(Self)
Creature Commandos
(Amanda Waller (voice))
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
(Self - Guest)
Waller
(Amanda Waller)
The View
(Self - Guest)
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
(Self)
The Jennifer Hudson Show
(Self)
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
(Self)
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
(Self)
The View
(Self)
Honest Trailers
(Dr. Volumnia Gaul (archive footage))
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
(Self - Guest)
Scandal
(Annalise Keating)
Hot Ones
(Self)
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
(Self - Guest)
Hack
(Stevie Morgan)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
(Donna Emmett)
Celebrity IOU
(Self)
The First Lady
(Michelle Obama)
The Graham Norton Show
(Self)
Father Lefty
CBS News Sunday Morning
(Self)
Silver Dollar Road
(Executive Producer)
G20
(Producer)
Operation Othello
(Executive Producer)
Night Shift
(Executive Producer)
Troop Zero
(Producer)
Emanuel
(Executive Producer)
The Woman King
(Producer)
How to Get Away with Murder
(Producer)
The Last Defense
(Executive Producer)
The First Lady
(Executive Producer)
In a Man's World
(Executive Producer)
Waller
(Executive Producer)
In a Man's World
(Creator)