Academy Award-winning actress, producer, and philanthropist Viola Davis sat down with the incomparable Oprah Winfrey to discuss her life, career, and her upcoming autobiography Finding Me.
Oprah + Viola: A Netflix Special Event, will air on the popular digital streaming platform on April 22, four days before the release of Davis’s new memoir. In the 48-minute interview, Davis spoke about the many struggles she encountered during her childhood, and her journey to becoming the actress – and woman – that she is today.
“Sharing my story is incredibly frightening but liberating,” Davis said to Oprah Daily in October of last year. “More importantly, it’s my way of helping people feel less alone in a world that is so isolating. It’s part of the building block of my legacy.”
This candid discussion comes ahead of the debut of Showtime’s The First Lady, where Davis will portray former first lady Michelle Obama. The television drama airs on April 17 and follows the personal and political lives of three of America’s most important women in the White House. The First Lady also stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Gillian Anderson, and two women from ESSENCE’s list of 20 Young Black Hollywood Stars to Watch – Lexi Underwood and Saniyya Sidney – as the Obama sisters.
Davis has had a storied acting career filled with several accolades, earning a Primetime Emmy Award, two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, and in 2016 she was the recipient of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Rose Lee Maxson in the Denzel Washington-produced film, Fences.
According to Blackfilm, Oprah + Viola: A Netflix Special Event is produced by Winfrey’s Harpo company, and executive produced by Terry Wood and Tara Montgomery, alongside Brian Piotrowicz.
