Before Viola Davis (How to Get Away with Murder) became an EGOT-winning actor, she was an observer. Her work takes the human experience and transmutes it, offering a mirror and a window into ourselves.

You can watch this conversation on YouTube.

As we (gradually) move into 2026, we revisit our sit-down with Davis. We unpack her liberating projects in The Woman King (4:24) and G20 (4:50), the formative years she spent growing up in Rhode Island (13:52), and how she captured those familial memories in her 2022 memoir Finding Me (17:12). Then, we talk about Viola’s start as a performer (23:40), what she learned attending Juilliard (31:57), and the quagmire she faced as a Black actor emerging on Broadway and in Hollywood post-graduation (35:10).

On the back-half, Davis reflects on a scene from August Wilson’s play Seven Guitars (37:50), her singular experience acting alongside Meryl Streep in Doubt (47:25), and the ways her life transformed during Shonda Rhymes’ How to Get Away with Murder and Steve McQueen’s Widows (53:00). To close, Viola shares her views on legacy (1:01:05) and how she finds her way back home, each and every day (1:05:20).

Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].

Original air date: April 27, 2025

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.