Viola Davis (born August 11, 1965 in St. Matthews, South Carolina) is an American actress of screen and stage.
She earned acclaim and Oscar nominations for her roles in Doubt and The Help. She starred as criminal law professor Annalise Keating on Shonda Rhimes' ABC drama How to Get Away with Murder, for which she won the Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama, making her the first Black actor to ever win the award, and played Amanda Waller in Suicide Squad. Her role in the film adaptation of Fences earned her an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.
She is the first Black actor to achieve the "Triple Crown of acting" – an Emmy, an Oscar and a Tony in the competitive acting categories. In 2021, she received another Oscar nomination for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, becoming the second-most Oscar-nominated Black actor (behind Denzel Washington) and the first one with two Best Actress nominations. In 2023, she became the third Black woman and 18th person overall to attain EGOT status when she won a Grammy for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording for Finding Me.
Selected filmography:
- The Pentagon Wars (1998) as SFC Fanning
- Out of Sight (1998) as Moselle Miller
- Traffic (2000) as Social Worker
- Far from Heaven (2002) as Sybil
- Antwone Fisher (2002) as Eva May Fisher
- Solaris (2002) as Dr. Gordon
- Syriana (2005) as CIA Chairwoman (uncredited)
- World Trade Center (2006) as Mother in Hospital
- Disturbia (2007) as Detective Parker
- Nights in Rodanthe (2008) as Jean
- Doubt (2008) as Mrs. Miller note
- Madea Goes to Jail (2009) as Ellen St. Matthews
- State of Play (2009) as Dr. Judith Franklin
- Law Abiding Citizen (2009) as Mayor April Henry
- Knight and Day (2010) as Director Isabel George
- Eat, Pray, Love (2010) as Delia Shiraz
- It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010) as Dr. Minerva
- Trust (2011) as Gail Friedman
- The Help (2011) as Aibileen Clark note
- Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2012) as Abby Black
- Beautiful Creatures (2013) as Amarie "Amma" Treadeau
- Ender's Game (2013) as Major Anderson
- The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (2013) as Prof. Lillian Friedman
- Prisoners (2013) as Nancy Birch
- Get On Up (2014) as Susie Brown
- Blackhat (2015) as Agent Carol Barrett
- DC Extended Universe and DC Universe as Amanda Waller
- Suicide Squad (2016)
- The Suicide Squad (2021)
- Peacemaker (2022)
- Black Adam (2022)
- Creature Commandos
- Fences (2016) as Rose Maxson note
- Widows (2018) as Veronica
- Troop Zero (2019) as Rayleen
- Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020) as Gertrude "Ma Rainey" Pridgett
- The Woman King (2022) as General Nanisca
- Air (2023) as Deloris Jordan
- The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) as Dr. Volumnia Gaul
- Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024) as The Chameleon
- City Of Angels (2000) as Lynnette Peeler
- Century City (2004) as Hannah Crane
- Traveler (2007) as Agent Jan Marlow
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2003–08) as Donna Emmett
- United States of Tara (2009) as Lynda P Frazier
- Sofia the First (2013) as Helen Hanshaw (replaced by Dawnn Lewis in her second speaking appearance)
- How to Get Away with Murder (2014–20) as Annalise Keating note
- The First Lady (2022) as Michelle Obama
