Ultimately, it's not your job, as an actress, to satisfy people's expectations or image of who you should be. Even in your life, you are just who you are. Viola Davis More Quotes by Viola Davis More Quotes From Viola Davis 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 hero spiritual book Lloyd Richards is another director who was like that, who was a teacher. Viola Davis teacher directors 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-you giving directors 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 balls scene fence 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-somethings twenties laughing 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 narrative black people 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 august kindness thinking 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 house rose joy 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 daughter teaching jobs 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-women rose thinking 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 real mean moving 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-american winning want 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 play character thinking 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 backyards pool would-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 roles color writing 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 wall giving people 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 dysfunction teacher school 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 want attention character 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 hard naked acting You absolutely feel, as a black actress, that you've got to ride the wave because there's just so few roles. I hate to play that card, but it's the truth. There's not a lot of roles. Viola Davis black hate play
