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I have been given a lot of roles that are downtrodden, mammy-ish.

Viola Davis

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Viola Davis
Age: 59
Born: 1965
Born: August 11
Actress
Film Actor
Stage Actor
Television Actor
Television Producer
St. Matthews
South Carolina
La Viola Davis
Mammy
Downtrodden
Roles
Given

More quotes by Viola Davis

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It's time for people to see us, people of colour, for what we really are: complicated.
Viola Davis
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I already optioned a book called The Personal History of Rachel DuPree. I also like The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill. And I love all of Octavia Butler's books. She's created some very complicated black heroines with a variety of belief systems. There are many great books out there, but those are a few of the ones that stand out.
Viola Davis
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I guess they say, Necessity is the mother of invention because you have two stark choices when you find yourself in a really desperate situation. You can either fold and cave-in to it or you can become really passionate about getting out of it.
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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
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I am not a morning person, but I always work out - always.
Viola Davis
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Lloyd Richards is another director who was like that, who was a teacher.
Viola Davis
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They say, 'To serve is to love,' and I think to serve is to heal, too.
Viola Davis
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You cannot live to please everyone else. You have to edify, educate and fulfill your own dreams and destiny.
Viola Davis
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I really wanted to show [in fences] a marriage that is working. Not perfect, but working.
Viola Davis
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When your passion and drive are bigger than your fears, you just dive.
Viola Davis
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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
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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
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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
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We know the road of lack of recognition, of people telling us that we can't headline a movie because black women don't translate overseas, that every time we try to break the glass ceiling, people say no, people push back. And it's everything that people don't see out there.
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I can be busy for three years and you may not even know what I'm busy doing because you only see me in a few scenes here or there, but I've been working my tail off because there's just not a lot.
Viola Davis
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If the opportunity is not out there for you to play it, then you don't see it.
Viola Davis
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I think that you always want to gravitate towards people who absolutely are great at what they do and go for authenticity.
Viola Davis
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I am the mother of a 6-year-old now, so that's changed my entire perspective.
Viola Davis
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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
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Knowing the only way out is education, even if you don't have parents that are extraordinarily wealthy. I understand that I have to be an active participant in [my daughter's] education in order for her to thrive in the world.
Viola Davis