I really wanted to show [in fences] a marriage that is working. Not perfect, but working.
VIOLA DAVISSometimes you take a job for the money, sometimes you take it for the location, sometimes you take it for the script; there are just a number of reasons, and ultimately what you see is the whole landscape of it. But I can tell you from behind the scenes – that’s what it is, as an actor.
More Viola Davis Quotes
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When you pray, God puts people in your life to lead you when you cannot lead yourself.
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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.
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Anything can be achieved with a good, healthy dose of courage.
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Relationships change us and make us grow.
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I have been given a lot of roles that are downtrodden, mammy-ish.
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I think sometimes you have to see a physical manifestation of your dream. Otherwise you have to hope, pray and try to conjure something in your mind to feel like it’s possible.
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All you really need to do is shift people just a tiny bit for change to happen. It doesn’t have to be huge and humongous.
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And “classically not beautiful” is a fancy term for saying ugly. And denouncing you. And erasing you.
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Ultimately, it’s not your job, as an actress, to satisfy people’s expectations or image of who you should be. Even in your life, you are just who you are.
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Eating bread in Hollywood is a no-no!
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I am not a writer, but I feel that when our production company is successful, we’ll be able to give some young writers with fresh voices an opportunity to put their work out there.
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Acting, it’s the disappearance of self, disappearance of your own needs and your own wants and the kind of embracing of the character that makes it work.
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When your passion and drive are bigger than your fears, you just dive.
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I don’t want anyone putting any limits on me.
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One of the people I’ve always wanted to emulate in pursuing that dream was Meryl Streep, in terms of the different types of roles she’s been able to play and the number of different stories she’s been able to tell.
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I am not a glam woman – this definitely is a mask I put on for the public.
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When you see what the deficit is, then you have to do something about it.
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I think that what happens so often on screen is high-stake moments tends to look too pretty. And I just don’t think it’s honest.
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I think that you always want to gravitate towards people who absolutely are great at what they do and go for authenticity.
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[I listen to] “Uptown Funk”, Bruno Mars, sometimes even Nina Simone and Adele. Whatever comes up, whatever floats my boat, whatever makes me tap into something in me to just decompress – I listen to that.
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I think that I’m coming off as the biggest alcoholic in the world.
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I want my work to reflect my level of gifts and talent.
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Cicely Tyson was my inspiration to become an actor.
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I think sometimes what people miss about black people is that we’re complicated.
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Self-deprecation is not an answer to keeping one’s balance. I think that it’s very damaging.
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You cannot live to please everyone else. You have to edify, educate and fulfill your own dreams and destiny.
VIOLA DAVIS