Academy Award Winner And All-Around Exceptional Human Being Viola Davis Is Publishing A Memoir, 'Finding Me'
Powerhouse performer Viola Davis is releasing a memoir due out next year. After conquering the stage, silver screen, and recording studio, it only makes sense that Davis details her life on impressive accomplishments on the page.
Essence reports that HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, announced the acquisition of the Academy Award-winning actress's memoir entitled Finding Me. The book will be published in partnership with Ebony Magazine Publishing and rescheduled to be released in April of 2022.
Davis's memoir will span her life from her childhood in Central Falls to her present-day career as a philanthropist, Tony Award and Primetime Emmy Award-winning actress, and CEO/CoFounder of JuVee Productions. It will tell her story of overcoming various obstacles to now becoming the most nominated Black actress in the history of the Academy Awards.
In a statement, HarperOne president and publisher Judith Curr said, "Viola Davis is a powerful truth teller — through her work on stage and screen, as well as in her life. I'm looking forward to working with her on a book that powerfully reveals the risk and danger for a Black woman living in the fullness of her talents and gifts — and the reward and freedom that comes with it."
Viola herself explained in her own statement:
"I believe that our stories, and the courage to share them, is the most powerful empathetic tool we have. This is my story ... straight no chaser."
A Life Worth Sharing
Like her many performances, it seems like Davis's memoir will be raw and poignant. Going from growing up in poverty to being one of the most influential and accomplished women in Hollywood can't be an easy feat. Since her first professional acting role in 1992, Viola Davis has won two Tony Awards, three Drama Desk Awards, an Obie Award and a Theater World Award for her acting skills in theater. She is also the first actress of color to win a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Additionally, she is the first African-American to win five Screen Actors Guild Awards. I mean, come on. And that isn't even all of her accolades! This queen has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards and became the first Black actor to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting": winning an Oscar, Emmy, and Tony in acting categories. On the academic side, Davis holds an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts from Rhode Island College and an honorary doctoral degree in fine arts from Indiana University.
Do y'all feel like an underachiever now? I sure as hell do. But that's the beauty of Viola Davis. This woman is talent and strength personified. She also somehow makes accomplishment seem attainable, hell, even easy. When the screen or spotlight is on her, everyone wants to listen and everyone wants to watch. She is simply captivating, and the characters she plays have range and depth. There is a naturalness about her that is appealing to women and young girls which makes the announcement of her memoir all the more exciting.
She's also an inspiration in her free time as she regularly donates funds to her public library and beloved theater programs. She has collaborated with Hunger Is campaign to eradicate childhood hunger across the United States and was even a speaker at the 2018 Women's March. It's pretty incredible how much she has accomplished in her lifetime, and the best part is that she isn't done.
Finding Me will hit bookshelves in April 2022.