Viola Davis' Best Roles Through The Years

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Viola Davis

As one of the leading ladies in the acting business, Viola Davis has earned much respect for the roles she's taken on over the last decades. She appeared in several theatre productions before shifting her career to the big screen with films like The Help and Suicide Squad! Find out more on what Viola has accomplished over the years in her best roles to date...

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Viola Davis 'Doubt'

In her film breakthrough, Davis was nominated for a Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in the 2008 film Doubt. In this period drama, Davis stars as a troubled mother, opposite Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. While a heavy film, the movie received praise among the critics, with multiple other Academy, Golden Globe, and BAFTA nominations!

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Viola Davis 'The Help'

One of Viola Davis' most memorable roles was her performance of "Aibileen Clark", a housemaid in the movie The Help. The 2011 film also includes Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, and Bryce Dallas Howard as they navigate through 1960s Mississippi. The Help was critically acclaimed, especially for Viola's performance! She received a SAG award for Best Actress, a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress and both an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination under the same category.

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Viola Davis 'Get on Up'

In 2014, Davis teamed up with The Help director, Tate Taylor again for the film Get on Up. The movie is a biopic of singer James Brown, played by Chadwick Boseman, and Davis portrays Brown's mother. It also includes Nelsan Ellis as Bobby Byrd and Dan Aykroyd as Ben Bart! Fun fact: Viola's 3-year old daughter at the time also made an appearance! It won the African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble.

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Viola Davis 'Fences'

In another one of Viola's renowned roles, she played alongside Denzel Washington in the critically acclaimed film Fences. The 2016 period-drama is based off of the 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name, and the film gained just as much recognition. Viola herself won an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress as her portrayal of "Rose Lee Maxson", wife of Denzel's intense character. If you haven't seen this emotive film yet, we highly recommend it!

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Viola Davis 'Widows'

In one of Viola's most recent strong female lead performances, she plays the wife of Liam Neeson in the Steve McQueen film, Widows. The film also includes an impressive cast with Michelle Rodriguez, Cynthia Erivo (pictured right), Elizabeth Debicki, Colin Farrell and Robert Duvall. Widows is a British-American heist thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire experience! Viola was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

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Viola Davis 'Prisoners'

Viola starred alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, and Terrence Howard in the thriller film Prisoners. The film was chosen by the National Board of Review as one of the best films of 2013! It was also a financial success, gaining over $122 million at the box office! If you're into murderous, suspenseful films, you'll definitely appreciate this thriller of a movie!

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Viola Davis

Viola has not only gained recognition for her work on theatre and films, but also in television! She plays the role of lawyer "Annalise Keating" in the legal thriller series How to Get Away With Murder. Every episode is as intense as the next, and her performance has earned her two SAG Awards and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series! You can check out the series on Netflix if you haven't seen it yet!

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Viola Davis 'Suicide Squad'

Viola Davis' biggest commercial success to date in the box office was in the DC superhero film Suicide Squad. The film starred an ensemble cast with Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Jay Hernandez, Cara Delevingne and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. She was nominated for a BET Award for Best Actress! The film gained an impressive $746.8 million at the box office, too!

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Viola Davis

What's next for the incredible Viola Davis? She recently portrayed Michelle Obama in the 2022 Showtime series 'First Ladies'! The multi-award-winning actress also returned for her role in 'The Suicide Squad', also known as 'Suicide Squad 2' in 2021, as well as 'The Woman King' and 'Black Adam' (2022), 'Air' and 'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' in 2023. She has a few other films in post-production as well, like 'I Almost Forgot About You'. We can't wait to check all of these films and series out!

What movies did Viola Davis play in? Take a look at the roles she's starred in over the years! Davis is the first African-American actor to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting: an Oscar, an Emmy, and a Tony award! With an incredible acting career since the '80s, you may be asking yourself, what movies did Viola Davis play in?

What movies did Viola Davis play in?

What movies did Viola Davis play in? Viola Davis has been in over 45 movies AND a handful of Broadway and television roles since her time as an actress! Born in South Carolina and raised in Rhode Island, Davis had a rather tumultuous childhood growing up. Yet, she credits her high school for helping her find passion in theatre and the arts!

Viola Davis now has numerous accolades under her acting resumé and is one of the leading ladies of Hollywood! So far, she's been nominated 213 times and has won 102 of those awards... incredible! Find out what Viola's best roles are right here!

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