Viola Davis on Worthiness, Juilliard, and the Impact of Meryl Streep | Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Before Viola Davis (How to Get Away with Murder) became an EGOT-winning actor, she was an observer. Her work takes the human experience and transmutes it, offering a mirror and a window into ourselves. Today, we sit to unpack her recent, liberating projects in The Woman King and G20, the formative years she spent growing up in Rhode Island, and how she captured those familial memories in her 2022 memoir Finding Me. Then, we talk about Viola’s start as a performer, what she learned attending Juilliard, and the quagmire she faced as a Black actor emerging on Broadway and in Hollywood post-graduation. On the back-half, Davis reflects on a scene from August Wilson’s play Seven Guitars, her singular experience acting alongside Meryl Streep in Doubt, and the ways her life transformed during Shonda Rhymes’ How to Get Away with Murder and Steve McQueen’s Widows. To close, Viola shares her views on legacy and how she finds her way back home, each and every day. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].