I don’t read celebrity memoirs often, they don’t really appeal to me especially if we’re talking about a nepo baby celebrity. The last one I read was 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜, 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑦! By Molly Shannon, and it was absolutely incredible, so I went into this hoping for the same experience of getting to know someone in their own words. Because I knew Viola Davis did not come from a family of actors or connections, and because I knew a tiny bit about her growing up poor in Rhode Island, I was genuinely curious to know more about her.

I read the trigger warnings, I promise I did. But I was not ready for the level of horror Viola Davis has experienced. I’m honestly stunned she made it out of childhood as functional as she did. I want to emphasize a specific trigger for animal cruelty because prior to reading, I thought if it’s one moment I can get through it. There are at least two instances of very detailed, honestly horrific cat abuse, one that was so graphic I felt light headed, so please know that going into the book.

One thing that really struck me was the distinction Viola makes between growing up poor and growing up po’. When you can say ‘oh we were poor growing up but I didn’t really know it’ that is a world of difference from actually knowing you’re poor because you wear shoes with holes in them, you smell unwashed and like piss because you have no way to bathe or wash your clothes. Your toys are chewed up by rats and they’re so big and prominent at night that you pee in the bed to avoid being on the floor.

The force of will that is this woman is incredibly inspiring. She says it best in her book that everyone is going through 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, and in my opinion, this is why we should talk to one another, especially black women. It’s a simple and sad fact that we don’t have as much support in almost all things, and to know the things Viola went through, then realize if someone had simply SEEN her it could’ve changed something - it genuinely made me think about the times I had a gut feeling about something or someone and didn’t follow through with a kind question about how they were or if they were doing okay. This book made me want to see people better than I do, to be a better human.

The big bulk of this book is childhood through her acceptance into Juilliard, but there was less detail about her projects. I’m so glad she got into what filming 𝐷𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑡 was like, because it’s a phenomenal film. I was extremely curious about her thoughts regarding 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑝 and she did go into it a little bit, but not as much as I wanted her to. It was a fine book and a fine movie, but it was a sanitized version of reality that was comfortable to read and watch for a white audience. I realize she has a career to think about, but it is a big deal when you cosign to portray history that way. I know she knows this, but I still wonder what conversations she had, if any, with her costars. Maybe it didn’t come up, who knows! I wish the book had gone into more detail about her experience on sets in general, but maybe it’s not as interesting as my mind is making it out to be.

Overall, this was a harrowing read for a lot of the time, and I know I’ll be watching Viola Davis’s performances in a whole new light. If you read this book, you’ll read about some of the most depressing and honestly inhumane conditions that no one should grow up in, but you’ll also see how strong a spirit can be, and it’s so easy to root for her, knowing she got out of that situation all on her own. You have my respect, Viola Davis, an enormous amount of it.

“𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡.”