Viola Davis doesn’t subscribe to the small worldview of a limited imagination. “The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are,” she tells Glory Edim on The Well-Read Black Girl podcast. Ms. Davis is one of the world’s greatest actresses. She is also an expansive thinker who claims the beautiful complexity of life. On the podcast to promote her memoir “Finding Me,” Davis talked about the philosophy that guides her life and shapes her work. “I found that as I move through my life, the more I have examined my life, made peace with it, and unpacked it, the more I have moved toward self love and acceptance and ownership of my story.” The power of that self-reflection made real is evident in the radiant honesty Ms. Davis exudes as a person and actor. 

The many iconic roles she’s played in her unparalleled body of work including Mrs. Miller, the conflicted and desperate mother in “Doubt,” Veronica Rawlings, the wronged wife seeking revenge and redemption in “Widows,” and Ma Rainey, the revolutionary “Mother of the Blues” in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” are all imbued with a depth that exists beyond the page. She finds the truths of her characters by investing time in them. Davis wrote a 100 page biography of Mrs. Miller who only appears on screen for about eight minutes in “Doubt.” She chose to write a life story for the character because “You can’t write enough. You can’t discover enough. You can’t unearth enough to create a human being.” For Davis, there is more to a character than what’s on the page where they came into being. 

Viola Davis’ approach to acting and life is refreshing. The podcast episode is good listening. 

Podcast: Viola Davis and the Joy of Being Alive 

Photo source: Elle Brasil, September 2022.