Viola Davis
Viola Davis

There's no prerequisites to worthiness. You're born worthy, and I think that's a message a lot of women need to hear.

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

The predator wants your silence. It feeds their power, entitlement, and they want it to feed your shame.

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

Your ability to adapt to failure, and navigate your way out of it, absolutely 100 percent makes you who you are.

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

The only thing that separates women of color from everyone else is opportunity.

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

What do you want? What do you want your life to be? What do you want your testimony to be? Go for it!

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

I always talk to all the crew. I always make it pleasant. I always nurture a relationship that makes people feel like they're important, like they're a part of the collaboration. I feel that way about the young actors on set. I don't talk to them like I'm the mentor; I talk to them like they're my peers. And I learned that from Meryl Streep.

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

Tyler Perry's 'Madea Goes to Jail!' Which, I have to tell you, of everything that I've ever done in my career, that's the only thing that's perked up the ears of my nieces and nephews. That is it, that's done it for them. That made me a bona fide star in their eyes!

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

Your internal dialogue has got to be different from what you say. And, you know, in film, hopefully that registers and speaks volumes. It's always the unspoken word and what's happening behind someone's eyes that makes it so rich.

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

I truly believe that the privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

I tell my daughter every morning, 'Now, what are the two most important parts of you?' And she says, 'My head and my heart.' Because that's what I've learned in the foxhole: What gets you through life is strength of character and strength of spirit and love.

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

I've been online doing all kinds of research and that seems to be the constant criticism, that Aibileen's accent was just too thick. And for me, I don't want anything to distract from the character.

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

The more I'm pushed in a position of leadership and I know I have to be the mouthpiece for so many other people who can't speak for themselves, the more confidence I'm gaining.

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

There's got to be a voice deep within you that is untouched by definitions. And it is there that you become divinely who you are.

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

I played several maids in my career. I was tired of the maid after 'Far From Heaven.' I said, no more maids. Until I realized how difficult it was to get a role other than a maid, sometimes, in Hollywood, and sometimes you have to choose your battles, for lack of a better term.

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

I've always felt like I was an actor for hire. And almost apologetic for being a woman of color, trying to stifle that voice. But I don't feel that way in Shondaland. I feel like I am accepted into a world where I'm a part of the narrative - I'm a part of it.

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

Well, first of all, you read the script a million times. Because what the script gives you are given circumstances. Given circumstances are all the facts of your character.

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

I suffered from low self-esteem for much of my life. And now to feel like maybe something that I'm projecting or saying could mean something to someone means a lot to me.

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

I feel that confidence in women - especially young girls of color - but women, in general, is so important. It is so important for us to arm ourselves and become powerful at a very young age.

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

We didn't have money all the time to do laundry. A lot of the time, we didn't have soap or hot water. We were smart kids academically, but we'd go to school smelling.

Viola Davis
Viola Davis

He is a regular guy who absolutely is not attracted to his own celebrity. He's a jokester, a little rough around the edges, with great heart and compassion; he loves his family. I feel very comfortable with him. I don't see 'Denzel Washington Star'; I just see Denzel.