Viola Davis
Acting
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.
Known for
Acting138
movieChildren of Blood and Bone
2027
Mama Agba
movieW.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause
2026
Narrator (voice)
movieG20
2025
President Danielle Sutton
tvCreature Commandos
2024
Amanda Waller (voice)
tvHollywood Black
2024
Self (archive footage)
movieKung Fu Panda 4
2024
The Chameleon (voice)
moviePredator or Prey: Making The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
2024
Self (Dr. Volumnia Gaul)
movieThe Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
2023
Dr. Volumnia Gaul
movieAir
2023
Deloris Jordan
movieFood 2050
2022
Self - Narrator (voice)
movieBlack Adam
2022
Amanda Waller (uncredited)
movieThe Woman King
2022
Nanisca
tvThe First Lady
2022
Michelle Obama
tvPeacemaker
2022
Amanda Waller (uncredited)
movieThe Unforgivable
2021
Liz Ingram
movieThe Suicide Squad
2021
Amanda Waller
tvC ce soir, le débat
2021
Self - Guest
movieMa Rainey's Black Bottom
2020
Ma Rainey
tvDear...
2020
Self
movieOn Broadway
2019
Self (archive footage)
movieOperation Othello
2019
Narrator
movieA Touch of Sugar
2019
Narrator
movieTroop Zero
2019
Miss Rayleen
movieWidows
2018
Veronica Rawlings
movieBeyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
2018
Self (archive footage)
movieBright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds
2017
Self (uncredited)
movieFences
2016
Rose Maxson
movieSuicide Squad
2016
Amanda Waller
movieCustody
2016
Martha Schulman
tvThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
Self / Self - Guest
movieLila & Eve
2015
Lila Walcott
tvHot Ones
2015
Self
movieBlackhat
2015
Carol Barrett
movieThe Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her
2014
Professor Lillian Friedman
movieThe Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him
2014
Professor Lillian Friedman
tvHow to Get Away with Murder
2014
Annalise Keating
movieGet On Up
2014
Susie Brown
movieThe Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them
2014
Professor Lillian Friedman
tvLate Night with Seth Meyers
2014
Self - Guest
tvThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
Self / Self - Guest
movieEnder's Game
2013
Major Gwen Anderson
moviePrisoners
2013
Nancy Birch
movieBeautiful Creatures
2013
Amma Treadeau
tvSofia the First
2013
Helen Hanshaw (voice)
movieWon't Back Down
2012
Nona Alberts
tvScandal
2012
Annalise Keating
movieThe Help
2011
Aibileen Clark
movieIt's Kind of a Funny Story
2010
Dr. Eden Minerva
movieTrust
2010
Gail Friedman
movieEat Pray Love
2010
Delia Shiraz
movieKnight and Day
2010
CIA Director Isabel George
movieBeyond All Boundaries
2009
Hortense Johnson
movieLaw Abiding Citizen
2009
Mayor April Henry
tvWatch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
2009
Self - Guest
movieState of Play
2009
Dr. Judith Franklin
movieDoubt
2008
Mrs. Miller
tvThe Andromeda Strain
2008
Dr. Charlene Barton
movieJesse Stone: Sea Change
2007
Molly Crane
tvTraveler
2007
Agent Jan Marlow
movieDisturbia
2007
Detective Parker
movieThe Architect
2006
Tonya Neely
tvBrothers and Sisters
2006
Ellen Snyder
movieWorld Trade Center
2006
Mother in Hospital
movieThe Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
2006
Tonya (segment "King Hedley II")
movieJesse Stone: Death in Paradise
2006
Molly Crane
movieJesse Stone: Night Passage
2006
Officer Molly Crane
movieSyriana
2005
CIA Chairwoman
movieStone Cold
2005
Molly Crane
tvCentury City
2004
Hannah Crane
tvJimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
Self / Self - Guest
movieAntwone Fisher
2002
Eva May
movieSolaris
2002
Gordon
tvHack
2002
Stevie Morgan
tvWithout a Trace
2002
Audrey Williams
movieKate & Leopold
2001
Policewoman
movieOcean's Eleven
2001
Parole Board Interrogator (voice) (uncredited)
tvLaw & Order: Criminal Intent
2001
Terry Randolph
tvThe Guardian
2001
Suzanna Clemons' Attorney
movieAmy & Isabelle
2001
Dottie
tvThe Division
2001
Dr. Georgia Davis
movieTraffic
2000
Social Worker
tvCSI: Crime Scene Investigation
2000
Attorney Campbell
tvCity of Angels
2000
Lynnette Peeler
tvThird Watch
1999
Margo Rodriguez
tvLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999
Donna Emmett
tvJudging Amy
1999
Celeste
tvProvidence
1999
Dr. Eleanor Weiss
movieGrace & Glorie
1998
Rosemary Allbright
movieOut of Sight
1998
Moselle
movieThe Pentagon Wars
1998
Sgt. Fanning
tvThe View
1997
Self - Guest / Self
tvThe Practice
1997
Aisha Crenshaw
tvNYPD Blue
1993
Woman
tvThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
Self - Guest
tvThe Simpsons
1989
Narrator (voice)
tv60 Minutes
1968
Self
tvTony Awards
1956
Self - Presenter
tvThe Oscars
1953
Self
tvHallmark Hall of Fame
1951
Rosemary Allbright
tvGolden Globe Awards
1944
Self - Presenter / Self - Nominee
I Almost Forgot About You
Dr. Georgia Young
Ally Clark
Ally Clark
Production19
ASALI: Power of the Pollinators
2025
Executive Producer
movieG20
2025
Producer
tvNumber One on the Call Sheet
2025
Executive Producer
movieSilver Dollar Road
2023
Executive Producer
movieThe Woman King
2022
Producer
tvThe First Lady
2022
Executive Producer
tvIn a Man's World
2019
Executive Producer
movieEmanuel
2019
Executive Producer
movieOperation Othello
2019
Executive Producer
movieTroop Zero
2019
Producer
tvThe Last Defense
2018
Executive Producer
movieNight Shift
2017
Executive Producer
Ally Clark
Producer
movieMfinda
Executive Producer
Black Boys Don't Sew
Executive Producer
Rise of the Empress
Executive Producer
Creator1
tvIn a Man's World
2019
Creator