Viola Davis is an American actress and producer who has appeared in film, television, and on stage. She received her equity card with her stage debut in 1988 with August Wilson's The Pittsburgh Cycle play Joe Turner's Come and Gone production of Trinity Repertory Company. After graduating from Juilliard School in 1993, Davis went on to perform several roles on stage in the 1990s, earning Theater World Award for her role in Seven Guitars (1996). In the same year, Davis guest-starred in the procedural drama series NYPD Blue, and made her film debut with a brief one-day role alongside Timothy Hutton in The Substance of Fire. In 1998, she appeared in Richard Benjamin's television movie The Pentagon Wars, and Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight, before returning to the stage with an Obie Award winning titular performance in Off-Broadway Everybody's Ruby (1999).
Davis established herself as a leading actress of Broadway in the 2000s. She starred in her first recurring role in the 2000 medical drama City of Angels, before winning Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance as a wife of ex-con in King Hedley II (2001), the ninth play of Wilson's The Pittsburgh Cycle. She received further acclaim for her role as a Black seamstress in Intimate Apparel (2004) that won her the Drama Desk Award. Four years later, a supporting role in the period drama Doubt (2008) proved to be a breakthrough for Davis and she received Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nominations for it. Davis starred opposite Denzel Washington as a dutiful yet strong minded wife Rose Maxson, in a revival of Wilson's play Fences (2010), that earned her Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The same year she played Julia Roberts' best friend in romantic-comedy Eat Pray Love.
In 2011, Davis's role in an ensemble drama as a housemaid in The Help earned her Best Actress Oscar nomination, among other accolades. Her performances in school drama Won't Back Down (2012), thriller Prisoners (2013), and biopic Get on Up (2014), added further acclaim to her career. Davis became the first Black woman to win Emmy Award for Best Actress, for her role as criminal defense attorney Annalise Keating in television series How to Get Away with Murder (2014). In 2015, she starred and served as an executive producer in vigilante thriller Lila & Eve, and courtroom drama Custody the following year; both films received a mixed reception overall. She appeared as an antagonist Amanda Waller in superhero film Suicide Squad (2016), her biggest commercial success to date. In the same year, she and Washington reprised their roles in the film-adaption of Fences, for which Davis received Best Supporting Actress honors at the BAFTAs, SAG Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and Academy Awards. Following her Oscar win, she became the first Black actor to win Triple Crown of Acting. Davis co-founded the JuVee Productions with her husband Julius Tennon in 2012.
Film Year Title Role Notes 1996 Nurse 1998 Out of Sight Miss Apprehension and Squirt 2000 Traffic Social Worker 2001 Robin Ocean's Eleven Parole board interrogator Uncredited Kate & Leopold Policewoman 2002 Far from Heaven Sybil Antwone Fisher Solaris 2005 Get Rich or Die Tryin' Grandma Syriana CIA Chairwoman Uncredited 2006 World Trade Center Mother in Hospital 2007 Disturbia 2008 Nights in Rodanthe Jean Doubt 2009 Madea Goes to Jail State of Play Law Abiding Citizen Beyond All Boundaries Hortense Johnson / Arsenal Worker Voice; Short film 2010 Knight and Day Eat Pray Love It's Kind of a Funny Story Trust Narrator Short film 2011 Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 2012 Won't Back Down 2013 Beautiful Creatures Ender's Game Prisoners 2014 Get On Up 2015 Blackhat Lila & Eve Also executive producer 2016 Custody Also executive producer Suicide Squad Fences 2018 Widows 2019 Troop Zero Rayleen 2020 Giving Voice Herself Documentary; also executive producer Ma Rainey's Black Bottom 2021 Liz Ingram 2022 Nanisca Also producer Black AdamAmanda WallerUncredited 2023 Air Deloris JordanJason Bateman, Viola Davis, Chris Tucker, Marlon Wayans, Chris Messina & More Join Ben Affleck’s Nike Drama For Prime Video The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Dr. Volumnia Gaul 2024 Kung Fu Panda 4 The Chameleon Voice 2025 G20 President Danielle Sutton Also producer 2027 Mama Agba Post-production TBA Ally Clark Post-production; Also producerAmazon MGM’s Thriller ‘Ally Clark’ Rounds Out Cast With Six Additions
Television Year Title Role Notes 1996 NYPD Blue Woman Episode: "Moby Greg" New York Undercover Episode: "Smack is Back" 1998 Television film Grace and Glorie Television film 2000 Judging Amy Celeste Episode: "Blast from the Past" City of Angels 24 episodes 2001 Amy & Isabelle Dottie Television film Providence Episode: "You Can Count On Me" Episode: "The Men from the Boys" Third Watch Episode: "Act Brave" 2002 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Episode: "Badge" Episode: "Remembrance" CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Episode: "The Execution of Catherine Willows" Father Lefty Unaired Pilot 2003 Hack Episode: "Third Strike" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Donna Emmett Episode: "Mercy" Episode: "We the People" 2004 Century City 9 episodes 2005 Jesse Stone: Stone Cold Television film Threshold Episode: "Shock" 2006 Jesse Stone: Night Passage Television film Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise Television film Without a Trace Episode: "White Balance" Life Is Not a Fairytale Television film 2007 Jesse Stone: Sea Change Television film Traveler 8 episodes Fort Pit Television film 2008 Brothers & Sisters Episode: "Double Negative" 3 episodes 2003–2008 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 7 episodes 2009 United States of Tara 6 episodes 2013 Sofia the First Voice; Episode: "The Buttercups" 2014–2020 How to Get Away with Murder 90 episodes; Lead role, also producer (60 episodes) 2018 Scandal Episode: "Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself" 2019 Live in Front of a Studio Audience Florida Evans Episode: "All in the Family and Good Times" 2020 Celebrity IOU Herself Episode: "Viola Davis Delivers a Dream Home" 2022 Peacemaker Amanda Waller 2 episodes (uncredited) 10 episodes; also executive producer 2024–present Creature Commandos Amanda Waller Voice; 4 episodes
Theatre Year Production Role Theater 1988 Joe Turner's Come and Gone Mattie Trinity Repertory Company 1992 As You Like It Denise Delacorte Theater 1996 Seven Guitars Vera Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway 1997 God's Heart Eleanor Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater 1998 Pericles 2nd Fisherman / Lychorida / Bawd Joseph Papp Public Theater, Martinson Hall 1999 Williamstown Theatre Festival Everybody's Ruby Joseph Papp Public Theater / Anspacher Theater Performer (Replacement) Westside Theatre (Downstairs) 2001 King Hedley II Tonya Virginia Theatre, Broadway 2004 Intimate Apparel Esther Roundabout Theatre 2010 Fences Cort Theatre, Broadway
Producer Year Production Notes 2014 Camp Logan Theater play 2015 Short 2017 Short Emerging Artist Series TV series American Koko 12 episodes, also narrator EIF Presents: XQ Super School Live Television special 2018 TV series documentary Two Sides Four-part documentary series 2023 Silver Dollar Road Documentary film 2025 Number One on the Call Sheet Two-part documentary series; executive producer
See also List of awards and nominations received by Viola Davis
References