The more I'm pushed in a position of leadership and I know I have to be the mouthpiece for so many other people who can't speak for themselves, the more confidence I'm gaining.
Viola DavisRead
And that's what people want to see when they go to the theater. I believe at the end of the day, they want to see themselves - parts of their lives they can recognize. And I feel if I can achieve that, it's pretty spectacular.
Interpretation
What this quote means
People desire to see relatable experiences reflected in art, especially in theater.
Viola Davis highlights the essential connection between audiences and the stories presented in theater. She believes that finding recognizable aspects of their own lives within performances allows viewers to engage deeply with the narrative, ultimately creating a powerful and spectacular experience for both the artist and the audience.
Themes
TheaterArtAudienceReflectionStorytelling
In practice
Example use cases
In a talk about the importance of representation in media.
More from Viola Davis
All quotes →What excites me is just taking some time to breathe in life. The mundane is very exciting.
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I don't care if someone is new to acting or experienced in acting: you always learn something from them. It's just like people in life - whether they're young or middle-aged or old, you always learn something from someone.
Viola DavisRead
I don't see a lot of narratives written where a woman who looks like me gets to be beautiful and sexualized and upwardly mobile, middle-class, funny, quirky. They're very seldom written.
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There's no prerequisites to worthiness. You're born worthy, and I think that's a message a lot of women need to hear.
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August Wilson is the one writer that writes about men like my father, who had a fifth grade education, who was a janitor at McDonald's.
Viola DavisRead
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