That's why there's so much bad acting out there, because you could see actors watching themselves. — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
When you are an actor, you are in the most powerless position in this business. — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
Every job I've ever gotten has transformed me in some way as an actor. — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
Acting came from growing up in dysfunction. I mean, a lot of great times, but a lot of dysfunction. — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
Denzel [Washington] just knows the actor. He knows the process, and you don't often get that. — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
I don't think most people understand acting, even the people who call themselves savvy, even actors. — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
Any actor will tell you, as soon as your ego and your vanity come into the mix, it destroys your work. Completely… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
Egos are an occupational hazard in acting, but I don't have much of one, and my husband doesn't have much of one,… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
When people come into the theater, whether it's the screen or the stage, they've gotta be transported and transformed. — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
It's harder to work with people who are not as dedicated to their craft. It also leaves you a better actor when… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
We grew up in abject poverty. Acting, writing scripts and skits were a way of escaping our environment at a very young… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
I've always seen myself for who I am, which is a lot of things. So, I guess that when I walk into… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
Actor is just a strange profession, it really is, that you could be in front of the same people for years, and… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
Acting is not rocket science, but it is an art form. What you are doing is illuminating humanity. Or not. — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
As an actor, every opportunity, every role, everything that I do is an opportunity to have someone have a human experience with… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
I've always felt like I was an actor for hire. And almost apologetic for being a woman of color, trying to stifle… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
When you're working as an actor, you don't think that when you get out of school, it's going to be so hard… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
'Rebel' is not a word I would describe for myself, but I feel like I was a total rebel being an actor.… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
I've been to acting school and I think that at the end of the day, when you just focus on the work… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
There's a big difference in doing a play or doing any project that not a lot of people see and then a… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
I don't care if someone is new to acting or experienced in acting: you always learn something from them. It's just like… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
I'm the journeyman actor that you saw in one scene here, two scenes there. I've been eking out a living doing theater… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
When you're working as an actor, you don't think that when you get out of school, it's going to be so hard… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
Your job as an actor is to piece together whatever you've learned in your training, or whatever you have experienced in your… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
Each character has their own challenges. The challenge to doing one scene is your whole history of who you are and your… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
That's why I do what I do, and that's why I wanted to be an actress from the time I was six… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
Acting, it's the disappearance of self, disappearance of your own needs and your own wants and the kind of embracing of the… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
I've always just simply seen myself as an actor. And I believe that it serves me well to just think in terms… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
Sometimes you take a job for the money, sometimes you take it for the location, sometimes you take it for the script;… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
I look back at pictures of myself and I remember thinking, "I was so fat when I was growing up. I was 165 pounds… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
I am not a glam woman - this definitely is a mask I put on for the public. — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
I was bullied at school. The black girl in Central Falls, Rhode Island, in 1973. There'd be 8 or 10 boys; I would count… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
That's why there's so much bad acting out there, because you could see actors watching themselves. — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
I think that's why August [Wilson] named her Rose [in "Fences"]; I really do. She's a rose in her sweetness and her kindness and… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
When you're working as an actor, you don't think that when you get out of school, it's going to be so hard to get… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
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… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
I tell my daughter every morning, 'Now, what are the two most important parts of you?' And she says, 'My head and my heart.'… — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
I started a production company out of necessity, the need for great narratives for actors of color. — Viola Davis Copy Share Image
That's always the biggest surprise when people meet me: how buoyant I am and how fun and light I am. — Viola Davis Copy Share Image