Viola Davis (/vaɪˈoʊlə/ vy-OH-lə; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and film producer. Her accolades include both the Triple Crown of Acting and EGOT. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2017. The New York Times ranked her ninth on its list of the greatest actors of the 21st century (2020). Davis received the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2025.
Viola Davis (/vaɪˈoʊlə/ vy-OH-lə; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and film producer. Her accolades include both the Triple Crown of Acting and EGOT. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2017. The New York Times ranked her ninth on its list of the greatest actors of the 21st century (2020). Davis received the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2025.
A graduate of Juilliard, Davis began her career in Central Falls, Rhode Island, appearing in small stage productions. She made her Broadway debut in the August Wilson play Seven Guitars (1996) for which she earned her first Tony nomination. She would later win two Tony Awards, both for Wilson plays. Her first win was for Best Featured Actress in a Play playing the titular character Tonya, a woman grappling with trauma and loss in King Hedley II (2001), followed by her second win for Best Actress in a Play playing Rose Maxson, a working class mother in Fences (2010).
She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for reprising her role in the 2016 film adaptation of Fences. She was Oscar-nominated for playing a complex mother in Doubt (2008), a 1960s housemaid in The Help (2011) and Ma Rainey in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020). On television, she became the first black actress to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as lawyer Annalise Keating in the ABC legal drama series How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020). Davis joined the DCEU playing Amanda Waller starting with Suicide Squad (2016). She has also starred in the crime drama Widows(2018), and historical action film The Woman King (2022).
Davis and her husband are founders of the production company JuVee Productions, and she is also widely recognized for her advocacy and support for human rights and women of color. She became a L'Oréal Paris ambassador in 2019. The audiobook narration of her 2022 memoir Finding Me won her the Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Viola Davis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0205626
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q229181
Facebook: https://facebook.com/viola.davis
Instagram: https://instagram.com/violadavis
Filmography (Movies)
Children of Blood and Bone
Character:Mama Agba
Release Date:15/01/2027
G20
Character:President Danielle Sutton
Release Date:10/04/2025
The Ebony Canal: A Story of Black Infant Mortality
Character:Narration
Release Date:13/02/2025
Kung Fu Panda 4
Character:The Chameleon (voice)
Release Date:02/03/2024
Predator or Prey: Making The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Character:Self (Dr. Volumnia Gaul)
Release Date:13/02/2024
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Character:Dr. Volumnia Gaul
Release Date:15/11/2023
Air
Character:Deloris Jordan
Release Date:05/04/2023
Food 2050
Character:Self - Narrator (voice)
Release Date:07/11/2022
Black Adam
Character:Amanda Waller (uncredited)
Release Date:19/10/2022
The Woman King
Character:Nanisca
Release Date:16/09/2022
Oprah + Viola: A Netflix Special Event
Character:Self
Release Date:22/04/2022
The Unforgivable
Character:Liz Ingram
Release Date:24/11/2021
The Suicide Squad
Character:Amanda Waller
Release Date:28/07/2021
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Character:Ma Rainey
Release Date:25/11/2020
Giving Voice
Character:Self
Release Date:26/01/2020
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times"
Character:Florida Evans
Release Date:18/12/2019
On Broadway
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:12/10/2019
A Touch of Sugar
Character:Narrator
Release Date:24/04/2019
Troop Zero
Character:Miss Rayleen
Release Date:01/02/2019
Widows
Character:Veronica Rawlings
Release Date:06/11/2018
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:21/08/2018
Fences
Character:Rose Maxson
Release Date:16/12/2016
Suicide Squad
Character:Amanda Waller
Release Date:03/08/2016
Custody
Character:Martha Schulman
Release Date:17/04/2016
Lila & Eve
Character:Lila Walcott
Release Date:31/07/2015
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
Character:Self
Release Date:20/02/2015
Blackhat
Character:Carol Barrett
Release Date:13/01/2015
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her
Character:Professor Lillian Friedman
Release Date:10/10/2014
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him
Character:Professor Lillian Friedman
Release Date:10/10/2014
Get on Up
Character:Susie Brown
Release Date:01/08/2014
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them
Character:Professor Lillian Friedman
Release Date:14/05/2014
Ender's Game
Character:Major Gwen Anderson
Release Date:24/10/2013
Prisoners
Character:Nancy Birch
Release Date:19/09/2013
Love, Marilyn
Character:Self
Release Date:30/05/2013
Beautiful Creatures
Character:Amma Treadeau
Release Date:13/02/2013
Won't Back Down
Character:Nona Alberts
Release Date:28/09/2012
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Character:Abby Black
Release Date:25/12/2011
The Help
Character:Aibileen Clark
Release Date:09/08/2011
It's Kind of a Funny Story
Character:Dr. Eden Minerva
Release Date:08/10/2010
Trust
Character:Gail Friedman
Release Date:10/09/2010
Eat Pray Love
Character:Delia Shiraz
Release Date:12/08/2010
Knight and Day
Character:CIA Director Isabel George
Release Date:15/06/2010
Beyond All Boundaries
Character:Hortense Johnson
Release Date:09/11/2009
Law Abiding Citizen
Character:Mayor April Henry
Release Date:15/10/2009
State of Play
Character:Dr. Judith Franklin
Release Date:17/04/2009
Doubt: Stage to Screen
Character:Self
Release Date:07/04/2009
Madea Goes to Jail
Character:Ellen
Release Date:20/02/2009
Doubt
Character:Mrs. Miller
Release Date:12/12/2008
Nights in Rodanthe
Character:Jean
Release Date:26/09/2008
Jesse Stone: Sea Change
Character:Molly Crane
Release Date:22/05/2007
Disturbia
Character:Detective Parker
Release Date:27/03/2007
The Architect
Character:Tonya Neely
Release Date:01/12/2006
Life Is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story
Character:Diane Barrino
Release Date:19/08/2006
World Trade Center
Character:Mother in Hospital
Release Date:09/08/2006
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
Character:Tonya (segment "King Hedley II")
Release Date:02/05/2006
Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise
Character:Molly Crane
Release Date:30/04/2006
Jesse Stone: Night Passage
Character:Officer Molly Crane
Release Date:15/01/2006
Syriana
Character:CIA Chairwoman
Release Date:23/11/2005
Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Character:Grandma
Release Date:09/11/2005
Stone Cold
Character:Molly Crane
Release Date:20/02/2005
Antwone Fisher
Character:Eva May
Release Date:19/12/2002
Solaris
Character:Gordon
Release Date:27/11/2002
Far from Heaven
Character:Sybil
Release Date:08/11/2002
Kate & Leopold
Character:Policewoman
Release Date:25/12/2001
Ocean's Eleven
Character:Parole Board Interrogator (voice) (uncredited)
Release Date:07/12/2001
The Shrink Is In
Character:Robin
Release Date:01/08/2001
Amy & Isabelle
Character:Dottie
Release Date:04/03/2001
Traffic
Character:Social Worker
Release Date:27/12/2000
Grace & Glorie
Character:Rosemary Allbright
Release Date:13/12/1998
Out of Sight
Character:Moselle
Release Date:26/06/1998
The Pentagon Wars
Character:Sgt. Fanning
Release Date:28/02/1998
Miss Apprehension and Squirt
Character:Sharon Hughes
Release Date:01/01/1998
The Substance of Fire
Character:Nurse
Release Date:11/09/1996
Television Appearances
Number One on the Call Sheet
Character:Self
Creature Commandos
Character:Amanda Waller (voice)
Hot Ones Versus
Character:Self
The Jennifer Hudson Show
Character:Self
The First Lady
Character:Michelle Obama
Peacemaker
Character:Amanda Waller (uncredited)
C ce soir, le débat
Character:Self - Guest
Dear...
Character:Self
Celebrity IOU
Character:Self
The Kelly Clarkson Show
Character:Self
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Character:Self
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Character:Self - Guest
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Character:Self
Hot Ones
Character:Self
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
Character:Self
How to Get Away with Murder
Character:Annalise Keating
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Character:Self - Guest
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Character:Self
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Character:Self - Guest
Sofia the First
Character:Helen Hanshaw (voice)
Scandal
Character:Annalise Keating
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Character:Self - Guest
United States of Tara
Character:
The Andromeda Strain
Character:Dr. Charlene Barton
Traveler
Character:Agent Jan Marlow
The Graham Norton Show
Character:Self
Brothers and Sisters
Character:Ellen Snyder
Threshold
Character:
Century City
Character:
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Character:Self
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Character:Self
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Character:Self - Guest
Hack
Character:Stevie Morgan
Without a Trace
Character:Audrey Williams
Live from E!
Character:Self
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Character:Terry Randolph
The Guardian
Character:Suzanna Clemons' Attorney
The Division
Character:Dr. Georgia Davis
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Character:Attorney Campbell
City of Angels
Character:Lynnette Peeler
Third Watch
Character:Margo Rodriguez
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Character:Donna Emmett
Judging Amy
Character:Celeste
Providence
Character:Dr. Eleanor Weiss
The View
Character:Self - Guest
The View
Character:Self
The Practice
Character:Aisha Crenshaw
NYPD Blue
Character:Woman
The Simpsons
Character:Narrator (voice)
CBS News Sunday Morning
Character:Self
60 Minutes
Character:Self
The Grammys
Character:Self
Tony Awards
Character:Self - Presenter
The Oscars
Character:Self
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Character:Rosemary Allbright
Golden Globe Awards
Character:Self - Presenter
Golden Globe Awards
Character:Self - Nominee
Images
