Viola Davis reveals her biggest acting inspirations: “They’re all my idols and I love them to death”
Viola Davis is one of the greatest actors of all time, being one of the few performers to achieve the coveted EGOT status after winning an Emmy, Golden Globe, Oscar and Tony.
After beginning her career with small stage roles, Davis studied at the Julliard School and shortly won an Obie award for her performance in Everybody’s Ruby, playing Ruby McCollum. After exploding into the industry with a Tony Award-winning performance in King Hedley II, Davis found success with her first breakthrough on-screen role in Doubt, starring alongside Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Meryl Streep.
Since then, she has continued to mesmerise audiences with her committed and powerful performances, remaining the single most Oscar-nominated Black actress ever. However, after becoming one of the most celebrated performers of all time, Davis still finds inspiration from others in Hollywood, naming the actors who have most influenced her craft.
When describing the actors she most admired, Davis said, “Meryl Streep, Sally Field, Helen Mirren, they’re all my idols, and I love them to death. But at some point, you know, it’s still Cicely Tyson that made me want to be an actress because she looked like me. She looked like my mother. You want to see yourself. And as a matter of fact, that is statistically accurate because a lot of women, supposedly at Cal Northridge, don’t seek positions of professor because they don’t see a lot of women in those roles. Because they don’t see it, they don’t seek it. You’ve got to see it, to be able to dream it and believe it for yourself.”
Cicely Tyson has a career that spanned over seven decades, starring in films like Fried Green Tomatoes, Sounder, A Man Called Adam and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. She reached a similar status to Davis in terms of critical acclaim and even starred alongside her in How To Get Away With Murder, playing Annalise Keating’s mother in the hit series. Tyson helped pave the way for future Black women in Hollywood, breaking barriers through her breakthrough television roles, and she was described as a trailblazer by many.
Meryl Streep is unsurprisingly included on Davis’s list, with the actor being generally regarded as one of the titans of the film industry. The pair had the chance to work together on Doubt, which follows two Catholic nuns who begin to question the priest’s relationship with a young boy, doubting whether or not he is ‘good’.
The film is a cinematic feast for the senses, with stellar performances from three of the boldest actors to ever grace the screen, with a knockout monologue from Streep and expertly played ambiguity from Hoffman.
Sally Field and Helen Mirren have forged similarly unique careers, with notable performances in The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, Forrest Gump, Steel Magnolias and The Queen. All of these actors continue to be remembered for their daring vulnerability and commitment to storytelling, leading to unforgettable performances that have helped pave the way for future women in the industry.
