"And so then, I felt like that's when I had to go back to the beginning of telling my story of sort of rediscovering the young Viola, who definitely may have been traumatized, but was pure."

Multi-award-winning actress Viola Davis has poured herself into the characters she portrays on the big screen and on stage. And, now, in her most deeply personal and inspiring role yet, as author, she has released her memoir, Finding Me — out now.

Viola joins us on the show to talk about rediscovering the younger version of herself in order to write this book, the impact of Miss Cicely Tyson and August Wilson, the magic of artistry, the Black best friend role, the freedom and bravery that came with playing Annalise Keating, the connection between joy and peace and trauma, the radical act of forgiveness and more with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer. And we end the episode with a TBR Topoff featuring book recommendations from Margie and Marc.

Featured Books:

Finding Me by Viola Davis

Educated by Tara Westover

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown

Native Son by Richard Wright

Black Boy by Richard Wright

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

A History of God by Karen Armstrong

Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional bonus episodes on Saturdays) here and on your favorite podcast app.

A full transcript of this episode is available here.