Viola Davis
Viola Davis was born August 11, 1965 on the Singleton Plantation in South Carolina — her grandmother's farm, on land where her ancestors had been enslaved. She grew up in abject poverty in Central Falls, Rhode Island: rat-infested apartments, hunger, and a childhood that should have broken her. Instead, she earned a BFA from Juilliard, became the most-nominated Black actress in Oscar history, achieved EGOT status, and wrote Finding Me — a memoir Oprah called one of the most important books she's ever read.
viola-davis.com/The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity.
The Woman Who Stopped Hiding
Viola Davis was born August 11, 1965 on the Singleton Plantation in St. Matthews, South Carolina — on land where her ancestors had been enslaved. Her grandmother’s farm was the birthplace; abject poverty was the childhood. Her family moved to Central Falls, Rhode Island, where she grew up in condemned, rat-infested apartments, went hungry, and was bullied relentlessly. She has described herself as a child who felt invisible — unseen, unworthy, and apologizing for existing. At age two, she was taken to jail with her mother after a civil rights protest arrest.
She earned a B.A. in Theatre from Rhode Island College and a B.F.A. from Juilliard’s Drama Division. Her stage breakthrough came in August Wilson’s Seven Guitars (1996), earning her first Tony nomination. She would go on to win two Tonys, for King Hedley II (2001) and Fences (2010). Her film breakout arrived in Doubt (2008) opposite Meryl Streep — a ten-minute scene that Roger Ebert called the emotional heart of the film and that earned her first Oscar nomination. She is now the most-nominated Black actress in Oscar history with four nominations, winning Best Supporting Actress for Fences (2016).
In 2015, she became the first Black actress to win the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama for How to Get Away with Murder, playing the complex, unapologetic Annalise Keating for six seasons. In 2022, she starred in and produced The Woman King — a landmark film for Black women-led action cinema that earned $94.3 million at the global box office with 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. In February 2023, she completed the EGOT with a Grammy win for the audiobook of Finding Me — only the 18th person in history and the 3rd Black woman to achieve it. She is one of only three people ever to hold both EGOT and the Triple Crown of Acting. She has won over 125 major awards across her career.
Her 2022 memoir Finding Me became a #1 New York Times bestseller and an Oprah’s Book Club selection. She co-authored the novel Judge Stone with James Patterson in 2025, which also debuted at #1. Through it all, her message has stayed the same: you are worthy now, not when you become good enough to earn it.
Where to Go From Here
Pair Viola Davis with Oprah Winfrey — Oprah selected Finding Me for her book club and their friendship is itself a story about Black women championing each other. For the identity-and-voice path, see Lisa Nichols. For another EGOT holder who transformed pain into art, see Maya Angelou. Browse the full Resilience & Healing library.
Self Growth Videos curates the world’s best self-improvement content into guided paths. Explore Female Voices or the full teacher library.
Key Ideas from Viola Davis
Worth is not earned
Davis teaches that you don't have to become 'good enough' to deserve dignity. You are worthy now — and claiming that is the hardest work.
Stop hiding
For most of her career, Davis hid behind characters. Finding Me is about what happened when she stopped and told her own story.
Excellence is a practice
She approaches acting the way an athlete approaches training — craft built through relentless honesty and work.
Books by Viola Davis
Finding Me
From poverty on a former plantation to EGOT — the memoir that Oprah called one of the most important books she's ever read.
Judge Stone
Davis's debut novel about an Alabama judge facing a career-defining case.
Viola Davis resources
Start with Finding Me — her essential memoir — then explore her production company and official channels.
Viola Davis FAQ
Quick answers for readers discovering Viola Davis through Self Growth Videos.
What is Viola Davis best known for?
She is best known as an EGOT-winning actress (one of only 18 people in history), the star and producer of The Woman King, her Emmy-winning role as Annalise Keating in How to Get Away with Murder, and her memoir Finding Me — which Oprah selected for her book club and which won a Grammy for Best Audio Book.
Where should I start with Viola Davis?
Start with Finding Me, her memoir. It covers her childhood in poverty, her path through Juilliard, and what it took to stop hiding and claim her worth. The audiobook — which she narrated herself — won a Grammy.
Why is Viola Davis on a self-growth site?
Her entire story is about worth, identity, and refusing to let anyone else define what you deserve. Her speeches and interviews are used as motivation and empowerment material worldwide, and Finding Me is one of the most important books about trauma, healing, and self-worth published in the last decade.
