Cast & creator
Viola Davis
Best known for Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Viola Davis (/vaɪˈoʊlə/ vy-OH-lə; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and film producer. Her accolades include both the Triple Crown of Acting and EGOT. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2017. The New York Times ranked her ninth on its list of the greatest actors of the 21st century (2020). Davis received the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2025. A graduate of Juilliard, Davis began her career in Central Falls, Rhode Island, appearing in small stage productions. She made her Broadway debut in the August Wilson play Seven Guitars (1996) for which she earned her first Tony nomination. She would later win two Tony Awards, both for Wilson plays. Her first win was for Best Featured Actress in a Play playing the titular character Tonya, a woman grappling with trauma and loss in King Hedley II (2001), followed by her second win for Best Actress in a Play playing Rose Maxson, a working class mother in Fences (2010). She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for reprising her role in the 2016 film adaptation of Fences. She was Oscar-nominated for playing a complex mother in Doubt (2008), a 1960s housemaid in The Help (2011) and Ma Rainey in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020). On television, she became the first black actress to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as lawyer Annalise Keating in the ABC legal drama series How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020). Davis joined the DCEU playing Amanda Waller starting with Suicide Squad (2016). She has also starred in the crime drama Widows(2018), and historical action film The Woman King (2022). Davis and her husband are founders of the production company JuVee Productions, and she is also widely recognized for her advocacy and support for human rights and women of color. She became a L'Oréal Paris ambassador in 2019. The audiobook narration of her 2022 memoir Finding Me won her the Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording. Description above from the Wikipedia article Viola Davis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
98
film credits
69
television credits
145
1944–2027 · acting roles
6.5
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (167)
Showing 167 of 167 credits
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Self - Guest
2009
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self
2014The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self - Guest
2014
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self
2015The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Guest
2015
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Donna Emmett
1999
The Simpsons
Narrator (voice)
1989
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self - Guest
2014
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Attorney Campbell
2000
The Kelly Clarkson Show
Self
2019
The Graham Norton Show
Self
2007
The View
Self - Guest
1997The View
Self
1997
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Terry Randolph
2001
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self
2003Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self - Guest
2003
The Jennifer Hudson Show
Self
2022
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Self - Guest
1992
CBS News Sunday Morning
Self
1979
Scandal
Annalise Keating
2012
Without a Trace
Audrey Williams
2002
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Self
2003
The Practice
Aisha Crenshaw
1997
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter
1944Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee
1944
Third Watch
Margo Rodriguez
1999
NYPD Blue
Woman
1993
How to Get Away with Murder
Annalise Keating
2014How to Get Away with Murder
Producer
2014
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter
1956
Hot Ones
Self
2015
Judging Amy
Celeste
1999
60 Minutes
Self
1968
Brothers and Sisters
Ellen Snyder
2006
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
Self
2014
Peacemaker
Amanda Waller (uncredited)
2022
The Division
Dr. Georgia Davis
2001
The Guardian
Suzanna Clemons' Attorney
2001
Sofia the First
Helen Hanshaw (voice)
2013
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Self
2015
Ocean's Eleven
Parole Board Interrogator (voice) (uncredited)
2001
Providence
Dr. Eleanor Weiss
1999
The Suicide Squad
Amanda Waller
2021
The Oscars
Self
1953
C ce soir
Self - Guest
2021
Black Adam
Amanda Waller (uncredited)
2022
Kung Fu Panda 4
The Chameleon (voice)
2024
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Dr. Volumnia Gaul
2023
Hot Ones Versus
Self
2024
The Help
Aibileen Clark
2011
Number One on the Call Sheet
Self
2025Number One on the Call Sheet
Executive Producer
2025
Live from E!
Self
2002
Suicide Squad
Amanda Waller
2016
Prisoners
Nancy Birch
2013
Creature Commandos
Amanda Waller (voice)
2024
Law Abiding Citizen
Mayor April Henry
2009
Hack
Stevie Morgan
2002
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Ma Rainey
2020
Knight and Day
CIA Director Isabel George
2010
United States of Tara
2009
Eat Pray Love
Delia Shiraz
2010
Ender's Game
Major Gwen Anderson
2013
Threshold
2005
Celebrity IOU
Self
2020
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Self - Guest
2025
The Unforgivable
Liz Ingram
2021
The Actor Awards Presented by SAG-AFTRA
Self
1995
The Woman King
Nanisca
2022The Woman King
Producer
2022
State of Play
Dr. Judith Franklin
2009
Traffic
Social Worker
2000
The First Lady
Michelle Obama
2022The First Lady
Executive Producer
2022
Air
Deloris Jordan
2023
Century City
Hannah Crane
2004
Disturbia
Detective Parker
2007
Blackhat
Carol Barrett
2015
Widows
Veronica Rawlings
2018
Hollywood Black
Self (archive footage)
2024
Beautiful Creatures
Amma Treadeau
2013
City of Angels
Lynnette Peeler
2000
Fences
Rose Maxson
2016
Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Grandma
2005
Dear...
Self
2020
The Andromeda Strain
Dr. Charlene Barton
2008
Kate & Leopold
Policewoman
2001
World Trade Center
Mother in Hospital
2006
Out of Sight
Moselle
1998
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Rosemary Allbright
1951
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Abby Black
2011
Trust
Gail Friedman
2010
G20
President Danielle Sutton
2025G20
Producer
2025
Traveler
Agent Jan Marlow
2007
It's Kind of a Funny Story
Eden Minerva
2010
Solaris
Gordon
2002
Doubt
Mrs. Miller
2008
Nights in Rodanthe
Jean
2008
Madea Goes to Jail
Ellen
2009
Syriana
CIA Chairwoman
2005
Children of Blood and Bone
Mama Agba
2027
Far from Heaven
Sybil
2002
Get On Up
Susie Brown
2014
The Pentagon Wars
Sgt. Fanning
1998
Won't Back Down
Nona Alberts
2012
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them
Professor Lillian Friedman
2014
Troop Zero
Miss Rayleen
2019Troop Zero
Producer
2019
Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise
Molly Crane
2006
Custody
Martha Schulman
2016
Antwone Fisher
Eva May
2002
Stone Cold
Molly Crane
2005
Love, Marilyn
Self
2013
Jesse Stone: Night Passage
Officer Molly Crane
2006
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him
Professor Lillian Friedman
2014
Jesse Stone: Sea Change
Molly Crane
2007
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her
Professor Lillian Friedman
2014
Lila & Eve
Lila Walcott
2015
The Architect
Tonya Neely
2006
The Shrink Is In
Robin
2001
Portrait of an Artist: Stephen Curry
Self
2026
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times"
Florida Evans
2019
Life Is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story
Diane Barrino
2006
Emanuel
Executive Producer
2019Rise of the Empress
Executive Producer
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
Tonya (segment "King Hedley II")
2006
Beyond All Boundaries
Hortense Johnson
2009
In a Man's World
Executive Producer
2019In a Man's World
Creator
2019
Dark Girls
Self
2011
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
Self
2015
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
Self (archive footage)
2018
The Substance of Fire
Nurse
1996
On Broadway
Self (archive footage)
2019
W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause
Narrator (voice)
2026A Menina Que Voa
Production Accountant
Silver Dollar Road
Executive Producer
2023
The Last Defense
Executive Producer
2018
Grace & Glorie
Rosemary Allbright
1998
Predator or Prey: Making The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Self (Dr. Volumnia Gaul)
2024
The Color of Cola
Executive Producer
2026ASALI: Power of the Pollinators
Executive Producer
2025
The Grammys
Self
1959The Personal History of Rachel DuPree
Rachel Dupree
Small Great Things
Ascent
Catriona Vail
Oprah + Viola: A Netflix Special Event
Self
2022The Untamed: A Sinner's Prayer
Producer
Doubt: Stage to Screen
Self
2009
Miss Apprehension and Squirt
Sharon Hughes
1998Black Boys Don't Sew
Executive Producer
Operation Othello
Narrator
Operation Othello
Executive Producer
Amy & Isabelle
Dottie
2001Two Butterflies
Giving Voice
Self
2020Ally Clark
Ally Clark
Ally Clark
Producer
The Ebony Canal: A Story of Black Infant Mortality
Narration
2025
Food 2050
Self - Narrator (voice)
2022I Almost Forgot About You
Dr. Georgia Young
Night Shift
Executive Producer
2017
Mfinda
Executive Producer
A Touch of Sugar
Narrator
2019House of Games
House of Games
Producer