People who are alone all the time never grow. Those hermits just stay the same. It's only through relationships. Relationships change us and make us grow. Viola Davis More Quotes by Viola Davis More Quotes From Viola Davis I am not a glam woman - this definitely is a mask I put on for the public. Viola Davis mask glam People call me a theater actor, but I'm just an actor. But I tell my friends all the time - especially a lot that do theater and haven't done a lot of TV/film - that you have so much more control over your work onstage. When you go onstage, you can really see the difference between people who can really do it, and people who are just kind of pretending to do it. There is no editor, there's nothing that's going to stop the actor from showing what they can do unless it's not a well-written role. Viola Davis over-you done people In film, it's up to the director to tell the story in whatever way he sees fit, and however you fit into that ultimate vision is where you fit in. So what you did on that stage, on that set, may not be what you ultimately see when you see the final product. And TV works so fast, it works so fast, it's just about product. The average TV show, one episode shoots eight, 10 days. That's it. You get three or four takes for a scene, and then it's over. But people do it for the money. Viola Davis vision film people Actor is just a strange profession, it really is, that you could be in front of the same people for years, and all of a sudden one thing happens, and it finally clicks. Viola Davis actors people years Just because I was 30 doesn't mean I was grown. God, I was such an idiot. I was an absolute idiot at 30. And I grew up. Viola Davis idiot grew-up mean I think that enjoying the fruits of one's labor is very different than arrogance. And when I was younger, I didn't know the difference. I thought that if you were gracious, that meant that you somehow were getting ahead of yourself. And I felt self-deprecation kept you balanced. Viola Davis differences self thinking Self-deprecation is not an answer to keeping one's balance. I think that it's very damaging. Viola Davis balance self thinking I think sometimes you have to see a physical manifestation of your dream. Otherwise you have to hope, pray and try to conjure something in your mind to feel like it's possible. Viola Davis mind dream thinking Do the work. Create the character, don't wing it and don't hope for an award or the Red Carpet. At the end of day the people who stay in the line the longest are the people who are good. Viola Davis awards wings character I get so excited when my daughter says something new, which she is doing every day. I can leave the house for a few hours, come back and meet a totally different person. That's very exciting to me. Viola Davis daughter different house When I go home, I am a slug. I want to do everything completely opposite of what I do on the red carpet. I like to take off all my makeup, put on a t-shirt, be completely unassuming and just do stuff with my husband and my daughter. Viola Davis daughter husband home Every artist, true artist, struggles with an overwhelming sense of feeling like you're not worthy. Viola Davis artist struggle feelings I haven't seen most of what I've done. I can't even list them. Most television jobs. I haven't seen a lot. Viola Davis done jobs television When you shoot a scene, you remember every moment. You remember when your head went down, your head went up. You don't see little quirks, little eye movements, little lip movements. Once again, you become completely vain when you're watching it in a way that you weren't when you were shooting it. And the vanity, what it makes you focus on are everything that has nothing to do with the scene and everything to do with your own ego. Viola Davis vanity focus eye I think that what happens so often on screen is high-stake moments tends to look too pretty. And I just don't think it's honest. Viola Davis honest looks thinking Each character has their own challenges. The challenge to doing one scene is your whole history of who you are and your relationships, you only have this one shot. Viola Davis scene challenges character Recognition has brought me more work, because your name suddenly comes to mind when some directors are trying to cast a character. And my stage work has specifically enabled people to have faith that I can handle a role, even when it's not specifically written for an African-American. So, I'd have to say that recognition brings work. A successful movie brings more work, and that been the biggest blessing. Viola Davis successful blessing character That's why there's so much bad acting out there, because you could see actors watching themselves. Viola Davis acting-out actors acting Each role has its own different challenges. Viola Davis roles different challenges If you're a boxer, you want to get the ring with a Mike Tyson or Muhammad Ali type. When you're acting, you want to get in with Meryl Streep, and that's what I did. Viola Davis boxers acting want
