I truly believe that the privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. Viola Davis More Quotes by Viola Davis More Quotes From Viola Davis My husband [Julius Tennon] and I started a production company. We've already optioned a book and some scripts to do exactly that, to create more complicated, multi-faceted roles for African-Americans, especially African-American females. I think it's important. Viola Davis husbandbookthinking I have a lot of spiritual books that I read that I really, really love - everything from the Bible to Joseph Campbell, who I love. He wrote The Hero of a Thousand Faces. It's about exploring what is heroic in you. It helps me a lot. Viola Davis herospiritualbook Lloyd Richards is another director who was like that, who was a teacher. Viola Davis teacherdirectors When a director can give you a word that allows you to feel less tense about yourself, to make you feel like you indeed are good enough before you even get to the work, you can't ask for anything more than that. Viola Davis like-yougivingdirectors It was hard, that confrontation scene [in "Fences"], that was a hard one. I felt like it was relentless, I never felt like I could just drop the ball when the coverage was on him or anything else. Viola Davis ballsscenefence For me, that was a hard scene [in "Fences"] to do twenty-something times, which (laughing), I counted. That was difficult, but once I did it, I felt like I could do anything. Viola Davis twenty-somethingstwentieslaughing I sort of feel like that's the most revolutionary thing we can do with our narrative for me as Black people is to show that we are just like you. Viola Davis narrativeblackpeople I think that's why August [Wilson] named her Rose [in "Fences"]; I really do. She's a rose in her sweetness and her kindness and in everything else, even her anger towards the end. Viola Davis augustkindnessthinking I really want my acting to be definitive a lot of times, but I must feel like in any given moment there is a lot of things going on with Rose. I kept telling Denzel [Washington] throughout filming [Fences] that the house is her joy and her tomb. Viola Davis houserosejoy I've done a really bad job with teaching daughter to put on makeup, but I have taught her how to put on lipstick. Viola Davis daughterteachingjobs I think at the end of the day she [Rose from "Fences"] is a strong woman in the truest sense of the word. I think all of that is in the narrative; it's already there. The hope is there; the playfulness is there; it's there. I wish I could take credit for it, but it's there. Viola Davis strong-womenrosethinking August [Wilson] elevates in us is the average man in a way that is heroic and real and human. What you do is you sit with our pathology, you invest in our humanity. We're not walking around like walking symbols like we mean something larger. We're just moving throughout our lives and that's the power of the piece. That's revolutionary. Viola Davis realmeanmoving I did want to mark the fact that it was the first African-American to win the Lead Actress category.I thought it was so progressive. Viola Davis african-americanwinningwant It's harder to play a quiet character because everything happens in their stream of consciousness. They're thinking and feeling the world, but they're saying very little, so then you have to communicate it through your behavior. Viola Davis playcharacterthinking My biggest fear is that a paparazzi or someone ... is going to come in my backyard and see me when I get in my pool. That would be very unfortunate. Viola Davis backyardspoolwould-be I just hope this [Emmy] is now a part of the status quo that women of color are included in the narratives that continue to write lead roles for us. Viola Davis rolescolorwriting The world is very good at encouraging you to go along with the status quo and at basking in your successes. But when you hit a wall in your personal life, and you screw up, people don't give you a chance to navigate your way through it and tap into what's extraordinary about you. Viola Davis wallgivingpeople I had several teachers who inspired me, in both the public school system and the Upward Bound program. I needed several, because I lived in such abject poverty and dysfunction. And they're still in my life today, because I consider them to be friends, actually. Viola Davis dysfunctionteacherschool You don't get the pay-off when you're playing a quiet character, so sometimes you want to just throw out all your work and say, "Okay, let me do something really funny or gimmicky, just so that I can get some attention in this scene." Viola Davis wantattentioncharacter It's always hard to be private in public, which is what acting is because you have to do thing really emotionally naked. Viola Davis hardnakedacting
