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.
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Oprah + Viola: A Netflix Special Event
Self
2022
On Broadway
Self (archive footage)
2019
Blackhat
Carol Barrett
2015
Get on Up
Susie Brown
2014
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them
Professor Lillian Friedman
2014
Ender's Game
Major Gwen Anderson
2013
Prisoners
Nancy Birch
2013
Won't Back Down
Nona Alberts
2012
The Help
Aibileen Clark
2011
Eat Pray Love
Delia Shiraz
2010
Law Abiding Citizen
Mayor April Henry
2009
Doubt: Stage to Screen
Self
2009
Madea Goes to Jail
Ellen
2009
Doubt
Mrs. Miller
2008
Nights in Rodanthe
Jean
2008
Disturbia
Detective Parker
2007
Solaris
Gordon
2002
Operation Othello
Narrator
Love, Marilyn
Self
2013
Beautiful Creatures
Amma Treadeau
2013
Trust
Gail Friedman
2010
Knight and Day
CIA Director Isabel George
2010
State of Play
Dr. Judith Franklin
2009
World Trade Center
Mother in Hospital with Donna
2006
Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise
Molly Crane
2006
Jesse Stone: Night Passage
Officer Molly Crane
2006
Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Grandma
2005
Stone Cold
Molly Crane
2005
Far from Heaven
Sybil
2002
The Shrink Is In
Robin
2001
The Pentagon Wars
Sgt. Fanning
1998
Two Butterflies
Amy & Isabelle
Dottie
2001
I Almost Forgot About You
Dr. Georgia Young
G20
President Danielle Sutton
2025
Kung Fu Panda 4
The Chameleon (voice)
2024
Predator or Prey: Making The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Self (Dr. Volumnia Gaul)
2024
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Dr. Volumnia Gaul
2023
Air
Deloris Jordan
2023
Black Adam
Amanda Waller (uncredited)
2022
The Suicide Squad
Amanda Waller
2021
Giving Voice
Self
2020
Troop Zero
Miss Rayleen
2019
Widows
Veronica Rawlings
2018
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
Self (archive footage)
2018
Fences
Rose Maxson
2016
Suicide Squad
Amanda Waller
2016
Custody
Martha Schulman
2016
Lila & Eve
Lila Walcott
2015
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
Self
2015
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her
Professor Lillian Friedman
2014
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him
Professor Lillian Friedman
2014
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Abby Black
2011
Touch of Evil
The Vengeful Caretaker
2011
It's Kind of a Funny Story
Dr. Eden Minerva
2010
Beyond All Boundaries
Hortense Johnson
2009
Jesse Stone: Sea Change
Molly Crane
2007
The Architect
Tonya Neely
2006
Life Is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story
Diane Barrino
2006
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
Tonya (segment "King Hedley II")
2006
Syriana
CIA Chairwoman
2005
Antwone Fisher
Eva May
2002
Kate & Leopold
Policewoman
2001
Ocean's Eleven
Parole Board Interrogator (voice) (uncredited)
2001
Traffic
Social Worker
2000
Out of Sight
Moselle
1998
Miss Apprehension and Squirt
Sharon Hughes
1998
The Substance of Fire
Nurse
1996
Small Great Things
The Personal History of Rachel DuPree
Rachel Dupree
Children of Blood and Bone
Mama Agba
2027
The Ebony Canal: A Story of Black Infant Mortality
Narration
2025
The Woman King
Nanisca
2022
The Unforgivable
Liz Ingram
2021
C ce soir, le débat
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
2021
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Ma Rainey
2020
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times"
Florida Evans
2019
A Touch of Sugar
Narrator
2019
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self · (1 episode)
2015
How to Get Away with Murder
Annalise Keating · (90 episodes)
2014
United States of Tara
(1 episode)
2009
The Andromeda Strain
Dr. Charlene Barton · (2 episodes)
2008
Traveler
Agent Jan Marlow · (8 episodes)
2007
Brothers and Sisters
Ellen Snyder · (1 episode)
2006
Century City
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2004
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
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2003
Without a Trace
Audrey Williams · (1 episode)
2002
E! Live from the Red Carpet
Self · (1 episode)
2002
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Sergeant Terry Randolph · (1 episode)
2001
City of Angels
Lynnette Peeler · (25 episodes)
2000
Judging Amy
Celeste · (1 episode)
1999
Providence
Dr. Eleanor Weiss · (1 episode)
1999
Grace & Glorie
Rosemary Allbright
1998
Ally Clark
Ally Clark
House of Games
Number One on the Call Sheet
Self · (1 episode)
2025
Creature Commandos
Amanda Waller (voice) · (4 episodes)
2024
Hot Ones Versus
Self · (1 episode)
2024
The Jennifer Hudson Show
Self · (3 episodes)
2022
The First Lady
Michelle Obama · (10 episodes)
2022
Peacemaker
Amanda Waller (uncredited) · (2 episodes)
2022
The Problem with Jon Stewart
Self (archive footage) · (1 episode)
2021
Dear...
Self · (1 episode)
2020
Celebrity IOU
Self · (1 episode)
2020
The Kelly Clarkson Show
(1 episode)
2019
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
2015
Waller
Amanda Waller · (1 episode)
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Self · (1 episode)
2015
Hot Ones
Self · (1 episode)
2015
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
Self · (4 episodes)
2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self · (1 episode)
2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self - Guest · (2 episodes)
2014
Sofia the First
Helen Hanshaw (voice) · (1 episode)
2013
Scandal
Annalise Keating · (1 episode)
2012
Honest Trailers
Dr. Volumnia Gaul (archive footage) · (1 episode)
2012
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
2009
The Graham Norton Show
Self · (1 episode)
2007
Threshold
(1 episode)
2005
Hack
Stevie Morgan · (1 episode)
2002
The Guardian
Suzanna Clemons' Attorney · (1 episode)
2001
The Division
Dr. Georgia Davis · (1 episode)
2001
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Attorney Campbell · (1 episode)
2000
Third Watch
Margo Rodriguez · (1 episode)
1999
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Donna Emmett · (7 episodes)
1999
The View
Self - Guest · (2 episodes)
1997
The View
Self · (1 episode)
1997
The Practice
Aisha Crenshaw · (1 episode)
1997
NYPD Blue
Woman · (1 episode)
1993
Father Lefty
(1 episode)
CBS News Sunday Morning
Self · (1 episode)
1979
60 Minutes
Self · (1 episode)
1968
The Grammys
Self · (1 episode)
1959
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter · (1 episode)
1956
The Oscars
Self · (1 episode)
1953
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Rosemary Allbright · (1 episode)
1951
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter · (1 episode)
1944
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee · (1 episode)
1944