Biography
A graduate of the Juilliard School, Viola Davis built an exceptional background in theater productions and has continued to perform on-stage throughout her television and film career. Making her feature-film debut in 1996 as a nurse in
The Substance of Fire, she followed that up with several TV movies and guest-star appearances on dramatic series like Law & Order and
NYPD Blue. She went on to play another nurse in
City of Angels, a hospital drama with a predominately African-American cast that didn't last long on CBS. She began collaborating with
Steven Soderbergh for
Out of Sight, and went on to star in two of the director's next few films,
Traffic and
Solaris. In 2001, she appeared in
Kate and Leopold and in
Oprah Winfrey's television presentation of Amy & Isabelle. The next year she played parts in both
Far From Heaven and
Denzel Washington's directorial debut,
Antwone Fisher. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide