Viola Davis: From Poverty to Powerhouse | 261

Even the Rich

Wondery

Society & Culture

4.3 • 11.5K Ratings

🗓️ 21 January 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Viola Davis’ childhood was far from ideal. Struggling with poverty and racism, the “Fences” star’s very humble beginnings were tough, but instilled a fire in her that propelled Viola to where she is today. And that is a pretty remarkable place. Not only is she regarded as one of her generation’s greatest actors (hello, EGOT!), she’s also become a role model for Black women everywhere. And for that, she deserves all the flowers.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wonderry Plus subscribers can binge the newest season of Even the Rich before anyone else.
0:04.4	Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
0:13.7	Brooke, obviously we know how competitive Hollywood can be.
0:18.1	But I'm curious, has there ever been a point where you seriously considered
0:22.9	scrapping it all and throwing in the towel? I actually know what this point is because it's why I had to
0:28.1	move. Well, I wasn't throwing in the towel on like a career in showbiz necessarily. I was just
0:34.3	considering a move to Vegas. And yeah, I told Eresia, she had to move out.
0:39.4	And then we decided to stay. The second the mover showed up. Yeah. Brooke was like, actually,
0:44.8	we're not leaving. Yeah. I was like, we're just an elaborate plan to get rid of Eisha. Yeah.
0:48.7	But no, I've never thought about doing anything other than being creative in some way.
0:52.7	Yeah. Well, thank God. I know. As your best friend and
0:56.0	podcasting partner, very glad we feel the same way. Yeah. You know, sticking it out is something
1:01.4	you and I have in common with the absolute icon we're talking about today. In spite of
1:07.4	very humble beginnings and plenty of obstacles, she's persisted and gone on to
1:12.2	become one of the most celebrated and acclaimed actors of our generation.
1:16.7	Today we're talking all about Viola Davis.
1:23.1	It's Sunday, September 20th, 2015, and Hollywood's biggest names are out at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
1:31.3	Some are silently and optimistically prepping for their acceptance speeches, while others are practicing their gracious loser reaction phases.
1:39.8	Now, Violo Davis is probably in that latter category category because in 67 years of Emmy Awards,
1:45.7	no Black woman has ever won in the lead actress in drama category.
1:50.0	Mm-hmm.
1:50.6	That is until tonight.
	...

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