Viola Davis quotes

Viola Davis is an acclaimed American actress and producer known for her powerful performances on stage and screen. Her talent has earned her prestigious awards, including an Academy Award, an Emmy, and two Tony Awards. She is recognized as one of the most influential and accomplished actresses of her generation. Here are 29 of her quotes:

And this is what was fascinating to me about 'The Help'; they were ordinary people who did extraordinary things.

Viola Davis

I love Wal-Mart. You can put that down. I love Wal-Mart. My husband and I hang out there.

Viola Davis

We grew up in abject poverty. Acting, writing scripts and skits were a way of escaping our environment at a very young age.

Viola Davis

I do believe that there are African Americans who have thick accents. My mom has a thick accent; my relatives have thick accents. But sometimes you have to adjust when you go into the world of film, TV, theatre, in order to make it accessible to people.

Viola Davis

The only thing that separates women of color from everyone else is opportunity.

Viola Davis

In life, you know, they do this in focus groups; if you were in such and such circumstance, what would you do? Well, you never know what you're going do unless you're faced with it.

Viola Davis

When you're working as an actor, you don't think that when you get out of school, it's going to be so hard to get a job. Just to get a job. Any job. Whatsoever. You don't think that people are going to see you in a certain way.

Viola Davis

Sometimes you see how humanity can rise above any kind of cultural ills and hate that a person's capacity to love and communicate and forgive can be bigger than anything else.

Viola Davis

I can't deal with actors! I can't deal with myself. We're neurotic and miserable ... I love doing what I'm doing, but while I'm doing it, I'm miserable.

Viola Davis

Your ability to adapt to failure, and navigate your way out of it, absolutely 100 percent makes you who you are.

Viola Davis

The more I'm pushed in a position of leadership and I know I have to be the mouthpiece for so many other people who can't speak for themselves, the more confidence I'm gaining.

Viola Davis

I didn't see myself any different from my white counterparts in school. I just didn't! I thought I could do what they did. And what I didn't do well, I thought people were going to give me the opportunity to do well, because maybe they saw my talent, so they would give me a chance. I had no idea that they would see me completely different.

Viola Davis

And that's what people want to see when they go to the theater. I believe at the end of the day, they want to see themselves - parts of their lives they can recognize. And I feel if I can achieve that, it's pretty spectacular.

Viola Davis

Tyler Perry's 'Madea Goes to Jail!' Which, I have to tell you, of everything that I've ever done in my career, that's the only thing that's perked up the ears of my nieces and nephews. That is it, that's done it for them. That made me a bona fide star in their eyes!

Viola Davis

I worked in television; I'm the Failed Pilot Queen, I've done so many television shows, pilots, theater ... when you do it for so long, I'm telling you, you get to the point where it becomes varied because you take what's available for a number of reasons. It's just an occupational hazard.

Viola Davis

At the end of the day, nobody can tell you how to tackle failure or how to handle change. The world is very good at encouraging you to go along with the status quo and at basking in your successes.

Viola Davis

They say the two most important days in a person's life were the day you were born and the day you discover why you were born.

Viola Davis

Your internal dialogue has got to be different from what you say. And, you know, in film, hopefully that registers and speaks volumes. It's always the unspoken word and what's happening behind someone's eyes that makes it so rich.

Viola Davis

I think that's something that people feel that I do really well; I don't mind it, because ultimately I think the characters I play move people, and who wouldn't want to move people?

Viola Davis

Artists and actors of color have to alter and water ourselves down for Hollywood, but I refuse to be pacified.

Viola Davis

...I know Jim Crow, I understand that time period. It's a 100-year time period that was rife with lots of violence and anger, and people with lost dreams and hopes. I wanted the frustration and that anger to be more palpable.

Viola Davis

Working hard is great when it's motivated by passion and love and enthusiasm. But working hard when it's motivated by deprivation is not pleasant.

Viola Davis