UPDATED BWW Flashback: Take a Look Back at Oscar-Winner Viola Davis' Tony-Winning Stage Career
By: Matt Tamanini Feb. 20, 2017
In her first nomination, Viola Davis took home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her phenomenal performance in the big screen adaptation of August Wilson's play FENCES.
Combined with her two Tonys (FENCES and KING HEDLEY II) and her Emmy (HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER), Davis is just a Grammy away from the coveted EGOT.
This Sunday, Viola Davis will look to become the ninth actor, and fourth woman, to win both a Tony Award and an Academy Award for playing the same role. Denzel Washington will also have the opportunity to join this exclusive list. In 2010, Davis won her second Tony for playing Rose in the Kenny Leon-directed revival of August Wilson's FENCES.
This year, she is nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars for recreating the role on the big screen. Davis has become one of the most respected actresses of her generation for being able to create impactful, emotional characters across all mediums. And, should she win this weekend, it won't be the first bit of history that she's made.
In 2015, Davis became the first African-American to win an Emmy in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series category. She was recognized for her role as the brilliant, but volatile attorney Annalise Keating on the Shonda Rhimes drama HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER. In addition to her Emmy and Tonys, Davis has won three Drama Desks and three SAG Awards, and FENCES marks her third Oscar nomination, following DOUBT and THE HELP.
During her 2015 Emmy acceptance speech, Davis quoted Harriet Tubman and talked about breaking boundaries and redefining what Hollywood thinks of as beautiful.
Of her role as Keating, Davis said, "She's messy. She's a woman. She's sexual. She's vulnerable. I feel extremely fortunate that I am alive and still active, and this role came to me at this point in my life."
Davis made her Broadway debut in 1996's production of August Wilson's drama SEVEN GUITARS. She received a Theatre World Award and Tony and Drama Desk noms for playing spurned lover Vera.
Five years later, she returned to Broadway in KING HEDLEY II, Wilson's continuation of the SEVEN GUITARS' story. This time playing pregnant mother Tonya, Davis won the Drama Desk and Tony Awards.
In typical classy and elegant fashion, Davis delivered a touching, humble acceptance speech. Check it out below:
Despite an increasingly hectic career on screens large and small, Davis returned to the New York stage in Lynn Nottage's Off-Broadway play INTIMATE APPAREL in 2004. The play tells the story of a young African-American woman who moves to New York City at the turn of the 20th Century to follow her dreams of being a seamstress. Again nominated for a Drama Desk, Davis this time tied for the award with Phylicia Rashad, who was starring at the time in the Broadway revival of A RAISIN IN THE SUN.
Photo Credit: Linda Lenzi
Drama Desk Winners for Outstanding Actress' in a Play (Tie)
Click here for all of BWW's Photo Coverage of the 49th Drama Desks
The original cast of INTIMATE APPAREL, including her FENCES step-son Russell Hornsby, reassembled in 2014 to honor the show's 10th anniversary with a reading, benefitting Roundabout's New Play Initiative. In addition to Davis, the cast featured Arija Bareikis, Lynda Gravátt, Hornsby, Corey Stoll and Lauren Vélez. Check out photos of the reading below.
Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski
Corey Stoll, Lauren Velez, Viola Davis, Arija Bareikis, Lynda Gravatt, Russell Hornsby
Corey Stoll, Lauren Velez, Viola Davis, Arija Bareikis, Lynda Gravatt, Russell Hornsby
Corey Stoll, Lauren Velez, Viola Davis, Arija Bareikis, Lynda Gravatt, Russell Hornsby
Corey Stoll, Lauren Velez, Viola Davis, Arija Bareikis, Lynda Gravatt, Russell Hornsby
Lynda Gravatt, Viola Davis, Daniel Sullivan, Lynn Nottage, Russell Hornsby, Lauren Velez, Corey Stoll, Arija Bareikis
Having subsequently starred in Hollywood films DOUBT and EAT PRAY LOVE, and having completed filming of THE HELP, Davis again came back to Broadway in an August Wilson play in 2010. This time, starring opposite Denzel Washington in FENCES, as married couple Rose and Troy. Both Davis and Washington received TONY AWARDS for their performances.
As BroadwayWorld reported in 2015, Davis agreed to reprise her role in a filmed version that Washington originally planned to produce for HBO as part of a plan to produce all 10 of Wilson's plays for the network. However, producers Todd Black and Scott Rudin helped Washington redirect the project to the big screen.
Known as the American Century Cycle, Wilson's 10 plays each covered one decade in America's 20th Century. In chronological order they are: GEM OF THE OCEAN, JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE, MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM, THE PIANO LESSON, SEVEN GUITARS, FENCES, TWO TRAINS RUNNING, JITNEY, KING HEDLEY II and RADIO GOLF. Washington will bring MA RAINEY to HBO next, followed by the other eight American Century plays.
Washington will direct and star in FENCES, while producing all 10 films. No word on if Davis will reprise her Broadway roles in either of the other films. Take a look at Davis and Washington in photos from the Broadway production of FENCES below:
Photo credit: Joan Marcus
Denzel Washington, Viola Davis
Denzel Washington, Viola Davis
Denzel Washington, Viola Davis
The big screen adaptation of FENCES has been a somewhat surprising box office and critical success. The film has received 93 nominations and 26 awards during this season, and has pulled in over $55 million at the domestic box office in comparison to its reported $24 million budget.
Whether on stage or screen, Viola Davis is unquestionably one of America's most talented and powerful performers, regardless of race or gender. So, be it in a Shondaland drama, in an HBO adaptation, giving a classy acceptance speech, or someday back on the Broadway stage, it is always an honor to watch Viola Davis.
The 89th Academy Awards telecast will air live coast-to-coast on Sunday, February 26, 2017 (8:30 p.m.ET/5:30 p.m.PT) on ABC. Be sure to visit BWW for live coverage of the 2017 Academy Awards, with a theatrical slant.
Will you be rooting for Viola on Oscar night? Let me know on Twitter @BWWMatt. You can listen to me on BroadwayRadio or on BroadwayWorld's pop culture podcast Some Like it Pop.
Portions of this article were originally published in a 2015 article.
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