In short
Viola Davis discusses favorite books and how they shaped her life, memoir writing, and acting. She connects themes of Black history, identity, hardship vs. ease, liberation through honesty, and sisterhood/support networks. She also comments on award-show/production moments tied to August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and her own work on Judge Stone, plus her reading of Color Purple, Black Boy, Man, Child in the Promised Land, and All the Way to the River.
Guests
Viola Davis (hosted guest; actress and memoir author). No other guest is named in the transcript.
Key claims
Books “catapult” her into consciousness; memoir must be “unfiltered honesty”; therapy helps “defang” then accept painful memories; ease can threaten progress; stigma can “squelch” selfhood; healing hurts but is necessary.
Notable examples
Man, Child in the Promised Land (reading at 13–14; Harlem drug decline; Claude’s relationships); Black Boy (sexual harassment scene; “fled men…tone of my thoughts”); Color Purple (diary entries; “pussy” pregnancy shock; “I may be black and…ugly but I’m here”); Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Harold Loomis “shining like new money” ritual); Judge Stone sisterhood (“tired of being strong”).
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOViola's Reading Journey
1:15 to 1:56
Viola Davis shares her early reading experiences and influences.
“I say that I have been, even though my sister Dolores, I think, tops me.”
Impact of 'Manchild in the Promised Land'
1:56 to 2:45
Viola discusses how Claude Brown's book changed her perspective.
“I felt like, you know, it's like that James Baldwin quote that says, you know, people are trapped in history and history is trapped in them.”
Exploring Themes in Claude's Life
2:45 to 4:11
Viola reflects on the transformations depicted in the book.
“And the women in the story, you know, who became prostitutes and strung out.”
Ambitions and Support
4:11 to 5:56
Viola talks about the duality of support and opposition in her life.
“Like when he moves out of Holland, but he's still so drawn and he's like desperate to be there, even though he knows he can't be there all the time.”
Struggles and Growth
5:56 to 7:18
Viola relates the struggles faced by Claude to personal growth.
“Sometimes that's a ripe ground for growth.”
The Search for Identity
7:18 to 7:58
Discussion on the quest for identity in literature and life.
“And so in a great way, and I think that black boy is very much like that's Richard Wright was it for me.”
Navigating Memory and Shame
11:12 to 13:40
Viola discusses the challenges of sharing personal memories.
“When you, did any of these books inspire your work in writing your memoir as well?”
The Complexity of Identity
13:40 to 14:00
Exploration of the characters from 'The Wizard of Oz' as reflections of identity.
“There's certain things that I think would be too much of an indictment for other people.”
Exploring Therapy and Personal Stories
14:00 to 16:00
The impact of therapy and storytelling on personal growth is discussed.
“And I mean, I think I read in one of your speeches once you say memories have teeth.”
Insights on Richard Wright's 'Black Boy'
16:00 to 18:56
A deep dive into the themes and experiences represented in Wright's autobiography.
“And the part I also remember is him walking home from school with a female friend.”
Show all 32 chapters
The Hero's Journey and Self-Discovery
18:56 to 21:08
The journey of self-discovery and overcoming societal stigma is explored.
“But he always talks about this point in the journey, which is your inmost cave.”
Sisterhood and Support Systems
21:08 to 24:31
The importance of sisterhood and community in personal resilience is highlighted.
“I felt an incredible compassion towards him because what was it?”
Creative Process with James Patterson
24:31 to 26:33
Insights into the collaborative writing process between Viola and James Patterson.
“She took down a girl who knew jujitsu back in the day.”
Portrayal of Childhood in Literature
27:28 to 28:00
Discussion on the importance of authentic representation of children in stories.
“connection between just those two felt so magical and special you know what people forget about um children that they can't deal with things in the abstract yeah that they're not they're whole but they're not adults yet.”
Understanding Childhood Representation
28:00 to 28:34
Exploration of how children are depicted in literature and the impact of nostalgia.
Trauma and Disassociation
28:34 to 29:25
Discussion on the psychological effects of trauma and the concept of disassociation.
Sisterhood and Support
29:25 to 29:58
Reflections on the significance of sisterhood and family support systems.
First Impressions of 'The Color Purple'
29:58 to 30:45
Personal account of the first encounter with 'The Color Purple' and its impactful themes.
Powerful Lessons from 'The Color Purple'
30:45 to 32:32
Insights into the transformative lessons learned from Alice Walker's novel.
Adapting a Beloved Story
32:32 to 33:36
Discussion on the adaptation of 'The Color Purple' movie and its emotional resonance.
“And, by the way, I have not told her that yet.”
The Importance of Journaling
33:36 to 34:04
Exploration of the benefits and challenges of journaling in personal growth.
“Are you a sort of like journaler or letter writer in your own life?”
Nostalgia in Literature
34:04 to 35:08
Discussion on the nostalgia associated with reading and re-experiencing books.
“You really see the evolution of someone's entire thought process and self-belief.”
Connecting Through Young Adult Literature
35:08 to 36:15
Conversations about connecting with younger generations through reading popular series.
Escapism Through Historical Fiction
36:15 to 37:16
Exploration of the escapism offered by historical fiction and its emotional impact.
Bringing Stories to Life
37:16 to 37:44
Discussion on the desire to adapt stories into visual media for broader audiences.
“You will be a member of that community for 432 pages.”
Reflection on Healing Journeys
37:44 to 39:57
Insights into the complexities of healing and personal growth through literature.
“That's what I'm going to put in the universe because I'm a powerful manifesto.”
The Challenges of Therapy
39:57 to 41:21
Discussion on the difficulties and importance of engaging in therapy.
Living Between Cities and Small Towns
41:21 to 42:00
Exploration of personal preferences between city life and small-town living.
Living in Small Towns vs. Cities
42:00 to 42:57
Exploration of preferences between small towns and city life.
“I always say, oh, I'm a city girl because I'm a New Yorker.”
Nostalgia and Connection to Central Falls
43:57 to 45:02
Discussion about returning to hometown and emotional connections.
“I feel a sense of belonging in a small town.”
The Complexity of Memory and Healing
45:03 to 46:20
Reflections on memory, trauma, and the healing process.
Book Recommendations and Adaptations
46:21 to 46:38
Discussion about favorite books and potential adaptations.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Charlotte Owen:Planning a wedding shouldn't feel overwhelming. The Knot brings everything together in one place. Vendors who get your vibe, a custom planning checklist, guest list tools, and a free wedding website that syncs with it all. So instead of juggling a dozen naps and spreadsheets, you can actually enjoy getting married. Get started at thenot.com slash audio. The Knot. Let's plan your wedding together.
0:27Charlotte Owen:New Maybelline Serum Lipstick. Maybe it's not just lipstick.
0:30Viola Davis:It's lush color with endless possibilities.
0:35Charlotte Owen:It's serum infused with a hyaluronic acid and oil blend for eight hour plumping moisture in tone enhancing shades. It's more than the shade. It's who's wearing it.
0:49Viola Davis:You. New Maybelline serum lipstick.
0:53Charlotte Owen:Maybe it's Maybelline. Are you going to adapt it?
0:56Viola Davis:I think that it's a sure thing. that's what I'm going to put in the universe because I'm a powerful manifesto.
1:02Charlotte Owen:Yes, good for you. Viola Davis, welcome to One Night Stand. Thank you. I'm thrilled to have you here. We're going to talk about some of your favorite books today. Have you always been a big reader?
1:13Viola Davis:You know what? I have been. Yeah. I say that I have been, even though my sister Dolores, I think, tops me. Because, you know, she was reading Weathering Heights when she was probably 11. Oh my gosh, I love that.
1:27Charlotte Owen:Yeah. And what kind of books did you like reading?
1:29Viola Davis:When I was young, they totally were mysteries.
1:31Charlotte Owen:Oh, love, yeah.
1:32Viola Davis:I was like bopsy twins. And actually, I'm not going to lie, anything I could get my hands on, any escape I could find. But one of these books was the first book that really just blew my mind. I always say it brought me into consciousness. Oh. Was the Claude Brown book. Oh, let's talk about it. Man, Child in the Promised Land. That was it.
1:53Charlotte Owen:Tell me about, so how old were you when you first read that book?
1:56Viola Davis:I don't know, 13. 14. I just, I could not believe it. I felt like, you know, it's like that James Baldwin quote that says, you know, people are trapped in history and history is trapped in them. I felt like I was catapulted into this black man's life that was very similar to my life. And at the same time, I was learning so much about black history in America. So it was a double whammy for me. And I remember every single time I just turned a page, I was catapulted to another time. And it was a world that no one had taught me about. Although it was my world. and you know what the thing about the book is you meet him as a young boy by the end of the book it is a completely transformed community and a completely transformed life yeah and I was with
3:04Charlotte Owen:him every step of the way you know and it got the most incredible cast of characters between his friends his family and the way they keep their paths keep overlapping when he's in like Wiltwick and some of the other institutions. Yes.
3:17Viola Davis:And the women in the story, you know, who became prostitutes and strung out. And, you know, you see how their lives evolved. And you see, you know, it's sort of like one of my favorite plays is Doll's House. You know, that you see how culture and what's happening at the time affects humanity. Yes. You know, and so that's what you see, you know, when drugs are sort of you know injected into harlem and how it goes from this like vibrant harlem renaissance sort of time to just being just strung out ghetto yeah it was it's so it's
3:56Charlotte Owen:so sort of like painful in parts and also the watching his sort of relationships with his family members evolve through all the struggles it's um but he i mean it's just it's quite incredible i i felt like like breathless in parts of it because of how sort of tense it felt and how much you're rooting for him. Like when he moves out of Holland, but he's still so drawn and he's like desperate to be there, even though he knows he can't be there all the time.
4:20Viola Davis:Yes, exactly. And I found myself rooting for him.
4:25Charlotte Owen:Yeah.
4:25Viola Davis:You know, I always feel that sort of the condition of a play, dramatic literature, and a book is what it asks you to do is hold my hand for the time period you're going to be with me and that's all I want you to do yeah yeah and I'm going to take you through this journey and that's what I did with him I was in it yeah that was the first book right
4:52Charlotte Owen:there there's a moment in the um book where um Claude's mother basically he he describes at one point maybe wanting to be as a kid he was like I want to be a psychologist and she was like there's no way and like when his brother's like I want to be an airline pilot she's like and he says that Her whole thinking was that you should aspire to just make$50 a week and be able to survive. Did you ever, when you were growing up, like reckon with people pushing back on your ambitions? Or were you surrounded by people who were sort of supportive of you?
5:21Viola Davis:Both.
5:21Charlotte Owen:Yeah.
5:22Viola Davis:And I always say they both invite you into sort of your fate and your destiny. Whichever hand you want to hold at any given time. I've certainly held both hands of people who said, you're ugly. you're never gonna amount to anything you're always going to be poor and the other hands I held that said anything you want yeah and they both can be an inspiration in a way if you put them in the right place yeah and I think that my desperate need to get out probably made me migrate towards the people who were rooting for me yeah yeah I love that section
6:02Charlotte Owen:in your memoir where you talk about when you went to college and you were like I desperately wanted to get out and say I was going to be an English teacher or like I was going to teach or something and I but then you know this need to do something different sort of bubbles up within you and I think it's so hard to listen to yourself when those moments because I even I mean in a much smaller way remember when I went to university my parents be like you're going to choose the job that's going to make you money safely right you're not going to you're not going to make a risky choice because you sort of it is hard to take those risks and you feel that in this book as well when Claude is like working different jobs and and really trying to find his way and find not find not just a way to survive but a way to exist and live I think what served Claude in this
6:44Viola Davis:book is you know I always quoting Denzel Washington what serves him is when they say that ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship and sometimes when you've had it really hard When you come, you're just born into a life that's already knocking you down. Yeah. A world you don't fit into. You're just at the bottom. Sometimes that's a ripe ground for growth.
7:12Charlotte Owen:Yeah.
7:13Viola Davis:It is because you have nothing else to hold on to. But your inner voice. That's it. That's all you have. And so in a great way, and I think that black boy is very much like that's Richard Wright was it for me. I mean, when I say it, it, it, it, I mean his short stories, all of his books, he wrote, of course, Native Son. He's also an expatriate, expat of America. He just decided, I'm getting out of Mississippi. I'm getting out of the US. But he was everything for me, you know, when I started really reading.
7:50Charlotte Owen:It's an extraordinary book, that journey as well, and his journey from the South. And when he gets to Chicago and the confusion he feels in Chicago as well.
7:58Viola Davis:Yes absolutely that sort of search for yourself right? Yes exactly. Everything is in search of.
8:04Charlotte Owen:Yeah. I've always been in search of sometimes you feel like you're going to be in
8:09Viola Davis:search of until you roll into your grave but I think all the books I've ever loved is in search of.
8:16Charlotte Owen:Yeah.
8:17Viola Davis:A curiosity.
8:18Charlotte Owen:I also really liked that bit in Manchild in the Promised Land where Claude talks about learning to play the piano and he is with uh many white teachers who later that and his friends are later saying to him like no they're like taking away your soul somehow in the sense of like your ability to feel the music and play it in only the way that you can and i think that's also such a beautiful like theme in this books of like not learning to bend necessarily just to the way that other people are doing it but leaning into your own like superpower as well
8:50Viola Davis:Well, it goes into August Wilson, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, which takes place, I think, 1910, post-reconstruction United States. And, you know, it's that saying from the play, which is, you're shining, Harold Loomis. You're shining like new money. Yeah. This is a man who worked on a plantation, and then all of a sudden now he's been set free. he's looking for his wife but he's looking for himself yeah he's looking for his identity his place in the world that is not defined by sort of white supremacy yeah and he only finds it with this ritualistic thing that he does at the end of the play which he slits his his chest which is a very african you know ritual and he just immerses himself in blood and he you know says you know i'm I'm standing now.
9:46Viola Davis:I'm finally standing. And then he walks off. And that's when Bynum says, you're shining, Harold Loomis. You're shining like new money, meaning you found your place in the world. That's what they're all finding, man, child, and the promised land. I mean, it's all in the title, right? Man, child, and a land that's supposed to be promised. Something is promised to me that I'm not finding. Introducing Shark Facial Pro Glow, a first of its kind at-home facial.
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11:01Charlotte Owen:The Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp Bank N.A. Select schools available. Venmo Stash terms and exclusions apply at venmo.me slash stash terms. Max$100 cash back per month. no you know no and the world isn't supporting i think there's a line in um in black boy where it talks about how i was living in a culture not a civilization that i thought really just like gets a you know the how yeah oppressive that can be at points um but we obviously heard you say that line in particular um during the award show recently tell me about that experience i mean i know you've had a sort of crazy reaction to it since yeah i mean first of all was my
Read the full transcript
11:39Viola Davis:opportunity to say that because and I wanted to say that because you know Delroy Lindo he you know originated the role of Harold Loomis but um for me it was so fitting first of all it's my favorite play can I just say that I love Joe Turner's coming on I thought it was a fitting statement for Michael B. Jordan whose name I did not expect to see I mean on that you know winner's uh card and um I see that when I see Michael B Jordan I see this young man this young black man who has found himself you know yeah I'm so rooting for him on Sunday I am too are you gonna be at
12:18Charlotte Owen:the show no I'm gonna be home yeah yeah good for you my beautiful home yeah watching on the sofa that's what I'll be doing as well but no I can't I'm very excited and keeping everything crossed I have listened to your memoir and your recording of it is so incredible and I you know you do so such a beautiful job of bringing it to life. When you, did any of these books inspire your work in writing your memoir as well?
12:41Viola Davis:Oh, yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Well, I hadn't read All the Way to the River yet. And of course, my book is on there. But, oh, yeah, Black Boy, Color Purple. I mean, yeah, Man, Child in the Promised Land. Absolutely. Because they're all extremely unfiltered honesty.
13:02Charlotte Owen:Yeah.
13:02Viola Davis:it is the only way to go in a memoir. I agree. Yeah.
13:07Charlotte Owen:Did you self, was there anything when you were working on your memoir that you took out or that you felt, you know, I'm not able to go there right now?
13:15Viola Davis:Probably.
13:16Charlotte Owen:Yeah. No, I mean.
13:17Viola Davis:And there were, I always say that the book is only 30 % of who I am because it really, what it does is it challenges memory.
13:24Charlotte Owen:Yes. Yes.
13:25Viola Davis:And the power of memory. What I've remembered and what I've processed is maybe 30 % of it. That's it. Yeah. And then there are certain things that I'm not going to lie, I'm too ashamed of. Yeah. It's too much for me. There's certain things that I think would be too much of an indictment for other people. Yeah. And I don't think it's mine to share. And then there's a lot of things that I remember wrong. I say that with that book, the first chapter and my mom absolutely were the most difficult.
13:59Charlotte Owen:Yeah. Yeah. The first chapter is extraordinary. And I mean, I think I read in one of your speeches once you say memories have teeth. And I think that when I thought that a lot when I was reading, you know, because and it's I mean, it starts with you talking about your experiences in therapy and how you've sort of processed. And I think a lot of what we end up doing in therapy is trying to sort of defang some of those experiences, which is easy, but also accept them.
14:24Viola Davis:Well, accept them, you know, and I, you know, I'm repeating myself. I always feel like my hair makeup team said they keep hearing me say the same thing over and over again but we'll take it we love they love me but um my big discovery lately is that and I mean I don't think it's my discovery but in the Wizard of Oz she's all those characters yes you know she is a wicked witch yeah you know she is the flying monkeys and the talking trees and all the obstacles to get in the way of us sort of finding home yes right and she's also even the good witch yeah you know that that is showing a clear path and the wizard that really doesn't exist and doesn't even have any powers you know and what and she's also the ruby slippers yeah and um that's that's what i feel that's me yeah i mean i'm i've just always been in search of dot dot dot yeah there's no end to it in search of yeah um and i find that the the clearer i get and the more buoyant i get is just when i continue to share my story my story takes me where i need to be yeah my story is home yeah yeah that's incredible maybe we should talk about black
15:53Charlotte Owen:boy by Richard Wright next oh yeah yeah which is an incredible book I I finished it uh last night and just was blown I mean blown away honestly but the whole section about his experience in the communist party and everything it felt so different to what had gone before but I was like this is fascinating yes but tell me about your love of this book once again it's honest um and
16:12Viola Davis:and I'm trying to remember it now because when I read it I was you know I had to take a breath And this has been a long time since I read it because I think there is a part where it's like a dead animal is hanging.
16:25Charlotte Owen:Oh, the cat.
16:25Viola Davis:And the part I also remember is him walking home from school with a female friend. I don't know why this one sticks out at me. And then walking home from school and then this white man who's in town. This is his autobiography. Then starts sort of sexually harassing her and touching her and then pulls her into like sort of an alleyway. And she just finally tells Richard, just Richard, just go home. Go home, Richard. I'll just I'll be OK. Just go home. And the guy just grab. And, you know, she is going to be sexually assaulted. it's sort of this um portrait of america that is renegade that is a a the different side that that we don't see yeah maybe we see but is very much a part of our truth yes but rears its ugly head in someone's personal biography so it doesn't just become a story about his life it becomes an indictment on us yes like man child in the promised land and i think that's why it just blew my mind and then i think it i think it ends with him on a plane yes going to paris or something and saying i have to escape yeah sort of separating himself from what he probably thought was home which is america and i just thought it was a full scope absolute panoramic story of a person's life
18:05Charlotte Owen:yeah and yeah it's incredible and even from the the early chapters which deal so much with his sort of the food scarcity and the sort of the oh the mom and the difficult home environments and how faith and and the church was a sort of difficult thing for him to reckon with and then And when he gets to Chicago, I was so like willing and for things to sort of get easier. But I wrote down this line where it said I'd fled men who did not like the color of my skin. And now I was among men who did not like the tone of my thoughts. And I was like, oh, that is, you know, that when you often escape one world, you end up in another one.
18:39Charlotte Owen:And I think that's very relatable to people. It not being what you expect it to be. And then suddenly you're challenged in another way.
18:46Viola Davis:Absolutely. And, you know, Joseph Campbell talks about, you know, the journey of a hero, you know, when you have to answer the call to adventure. And, you know, you go through the journey with mentors, allies, foes, slaying dragons. But he always talks about this point in the journey, which is your inmost cave. I, you know, if Richard Wright were alive, I would love to sit with him or whatever and ask him what that inmost cave was. I wonder if he ever got there because that inmost cave where Don Quixote got to, where you go into that cave, this is the final part of the journey. And you think it's right when you think you're going to lose your life.
19:31Viola Davis:Yeah. You're going to die. So you have to go to that part where your final sort of dragon slaying is not slaying a god, a demon, but just slaying yourself.
19:43Charlotte Owen:Yeah.
19:43Viola Davis:And I wonder how much of Richard Wright he slayed. Because what happens, I feel like what this book was about, it's interesting, it's named Black Boy, is sort of, I'm trying to find a better word than re-education. Yeah. Re-education seems very academic, but a liberation.
20:08Charlotte Owen:Yes, yeah.
20:09Viola Davis:A liberation from what you've been taught you are.
20:13Charlotte Owen:Yeah.
20:14Viola Davis:I'm not necessarily sure he got there.
20:17Charlotte Owen:Yeah.
20:19Viola Davis:You know, someone says love. Love plus accountability equals liberation. I feel that sometimes the weight of being black in America, the stigma of it, you could stigmatize yourself so much that that stigma has a heavy, heavy weight. It permeates everything, right? It permeates your intelligence. It permeates your beauty. It permeates your sense of self. It squelches your voice. And so to be able to sort of bust out of that and swim through it and develop your own consciousness about who you are is a hero's journey.
21:07Charlotte Owen:Totally. Yeah.
21:08Viola Davis:Okay? I don't know if most people get there. I felt an incredible compassion towards him because what was it? He was born in what, 1912 or 19? Yeah, about that. I mean, my God.
21:24Charlotte Owen:I know.
21:24Viola Davis:That is post-reconstruction.
21:26Charlotte Owen:Yeah.
21:26Viola Davis:So that is a heavy weight. That's when you couldn't inherit any property. You were three-fifths of a human being. you were you know I mean in terms of education in terms of everything and health and all of that you were a black boy that's it yeah you didn't even have a name yeah gosh yeah it's I mean
21:48Charlotte Owen:when he um gets to Chicago and he joins one of the clubs he talks about finally feeling like he's surrounded by people who he can like move forward with in his life which is lovely did you have there been any particular people in the industry who have been that for you like when you obviously went you went to Juilliard and then you started you know I think your first Broadway play was in 1996 was it? 1996. Something like that I've got it written down somewhere. I've got a long career. I know everything. Yeah but were there any people for you in particular that you after growing up going to university and then starting work that you were like oh I found my people.
22:23Viola Davis:Oh 50 million trillion.
22:25Charlotte Owen:Well that's great.
22:27Viola Davis:Yeah Ron Stetson neighborhood playhouse he was my first acting teacher in Rhode Island yeah I don't know George C Wolfe we could keep going on a Woody King Negro Ensemble Theater Lloyd Richards yeah you know August Wilson yeah um you know Israel Hicks he directed me and Joe Turner's come and gone you know that was the you know production that got me my equity card. But I could keep going on and on and on in the theaters that I went to, the Goodman Theater, you know, ACT in San Francisco, Mark Taperform. You know, what happens when you want to get out, whatever getting out means, getting out is a very combustible term.
23:16Viola Davis:You hold on to every rope that is thrown at you, even if it's a rope that gets you from point A to point A plus. Yes. Yeah. And it could be a theater. It could be in a person. It could be in teachers like Doc Hutchinson. He was one of my mentors.
23:36Charlotte Owen:Yeah.
23:36Viola Davis:I mean, it's a lot of people.
23:39Charlotte Owen:Yeah. I was really when I was reading Black Boy, I felt so I kind of if I wanted to prod around the relationship with his brother because it's sort of it's there. But it doesn't we don't talk about it. We just know that it's not an easy relationship, perhaps. but I was so struck listening to your memoir and in reading Judge Stone the sister's dynamics I'm one of three girls as well so I love the sister vibe but tell me about your like I imagine when was that something that you were really keen to be a part of the Judge Stone story the like
24:08Viola Davis:sisterhood element yeah absolutely and I mean my sisters were my tribe yeah I think I say say that in the book. Yeah. I mean, it takes a village. Yes. It does. You can't go it alone. I can't imagine if I had to go it alone. Like my sister, Anita, just she was a fighter. She grew her nails to be a better fighter. And she was a good fighter, by the way. She took down a girl who knew jujitsu back in the day. I was like, really, Anita? Back in the day, you should have seen it. If you were there, you would have been cheering too. But and then my sister, Diane, who was incredibly intelligent you know and my sister Dolores who was incredibly intelligent but very mischievous I like mischievous people yeah I like people who buck the system and people who dare to go out there and you know and use their voice yeah I mean all of us were that person and um I needed all of them to sort of get me out yes yeah and I love that line in um Judge Stone when
25:16Charlotte Owen:everything is sort of unraveling towards the end and I think it's shortly after the um her house is blown up on the farm and she goes when she's with her sister she just finally goes I'm tired of being strong and that really felt like this like exhale in the way that you only can with
25:31Viola Davis:sisters yes me and James Patterson worked on that I really we did we worked on that I said James let me tell you something as a black woman he was like okay let's work on that you know I said I couldn't guess that Judge Stone is tired of being strong yeah good what was that creative
25:49Charlotte Owen:process like with you and James how did you work together on it we just worked together just I I
25:54Viola Davis:was surprised every time I would call him I always say I would call him while I was driving yeah to soccer practice or pick up my daughter from soccer. It's like, let me, let me pass this by you, James. Okay. Just keep an open mind. And he always had an open mind. I was shocked. You know, sometimes I said, okay, I'm going to have to really explain this to him because he's a dude, I'm a woman and I never had to work that hard. He was always open. A lot of it took place by phone. And a lot of it took place by email and text messages, especially with Nova. Oh, my gosh. Especially with her. This episode is brought to you by State Farm.
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27:06Charlotte Owen:This episode is brought to you by Welch's Fruit Snacks. Big news for your kid's lunchbox. Welch's Fruit Snacks are now made without any artificial dyes. A snack parents can feel good about and the same delicious taste kids can't get enough of. all made with no artificial dyes try welch's fruit snacks today it's a beautiful character in the and the moments in the courtroom between the two of them where she's like those moments of connection between just those two felt so magical and special you know what people forget about
27:39Viola Davis:um children that they can't deal with things in the abstract yeah that they're not they're whole but they're not adults yet. We're in finishing school. We sort of, I mean, sort of, right? We understand how to be in a relationship. We understand the paradoxes of life. We understand that life could be joyous at time and really horrific. They don't get that yet. And so a lot of times when you see children being played out in books, they just become an extension of sort of the adult's imagination of what a child is or the adult is trying to write the child that they believed they were which is no now you call it's like nostalgia right exactly it's a story you tell yourself about what happened in the past instead of keeping them where they are i mean there's one part where you know me and james he it was she was thinking about eating mcdonald's or something in one scene and i said i said can i invite you um james that maybe she's thinking about nothing you know that nothingness that comes after a traumatic event especially after rape with the body disassociates and and so in order to hold the pain you're always separating yeah i know I was all the time always separating so sometimes I wasn't even there I was just a shell of a person
29:18Charlotte Owen:that can be powerful yeah nothing yeah I completely agree nothing yeah that's extraordinary I mean I thought the the characters were so beautiful and so interesting and I did just I loved those moments of sisterhood and that moment when I think one of the I think when um mary takes a drink some of one of the others coke and they were and there's this comment about like oh when you grow up with sisters you i didn't even have my own like can of cola until i went to like college and i was like correct yeah nothing's your own no are your sisters still that for you
29:51Viola Davis:your sort of like support network well you know we're older now it's different now i will say they're my support network because it's like i know they love me yeah you know even when they're not around yeah you know i know even if they do something to make me mad i still know that they love me how many people do you know if you know if they make you mad if they say something salacious it's like i'm not they're not going to be in my life anymore but you know your sisters are
30:16Charlotte Owen:always always well let's move on to the color purple an incredible i mean incredible book tell me about how old were you when you first read it because it came out when you were a
30:27Viola Davis:teenager right yes I was looking it came out in 80 early 80s yes yeah I think you said when I
30:33Charlotte Owen:researched I think you would have been about 16 17 oh my god and the fact that they were diary
30:37Viola Davis:entries yeah you know that was one of my that was my um monologue that I would use to get into everything circle in the square theater juilliard but um which part if you don't mind me asking was the first two entries and the entry i mean i don't know if i could say this salacious word it's um um but the part that completely destroyed me the second part when she doesn't even know she's pregnant and she says and she says the word pussy she's like that baby came out of my pussy sucking on his fist and I was in shock yeah that I mean gutted me yeah and then she's just talking talking and then she's like my father took it yeah took it took it the baby but the thing that struck me about that book because i always use the stevie wonder line of show me it starts with a book um alice walker um starts a book with a quote show me how to do what you do show me how to do it it took me the longest time to be able i was like why are you starting out with a stevie wonder quote and then when it hit me yeah it means so because you do you have to show someone sometimes how to live yes and that's what suge avery did with her showed her how to love herself yeah showed her how to see herself and then when she finally did oh my god the power what she was able to slay through that entire story and you know i saw myself in miss sealy you know and beautiful final line you know i may be black and i may be ugly but i'm here you know that that book was everything I feel for me I think that book is one of the most important books that's out there for it's I mean I'm sure for for women in general for people in general for me as a dark-skinned black woman it was everything yeah were you a fan of the movie
32:50Charlotte Owen:when that came out as well when you're did you did you see it as it came out and because I mean
32:54Viola Davis:you were at college at the time I was in the movie theater and you were and was it you know Because, first of all, I'm a Whoopi Goldberg concert. Everything she did, I was there. And, by the way, I have not told her that yet. Every time. I think I held her hand the other day when I was at The View. And I was like, Viola, you could actually say this to Whoopi. But I didn't. I loved everything that she was in because I see myself in her. Yeah. But, yes, I saw the movie. Yeah. And she's reunited with her children. I mean, come on. Yeah. Yes, the whole movie. Yes.
33:28Charlotte Owen:It's an incredible like adaptation and just, yeah, I remember watching it when I was younger and being just mind blown in every way. Yeah. It's it's it's incredible. Are you a sort of like journaler or letter writer in your own life? Sometimes I am.
33:45Viola Davis:And then I'm not.
33:46Charlotte Owen:Yes.
33:46Viola Davis:I write, write, write. And then I stop. And it always is helpful when I journal.
33:51Charlotte Owen:Same.
33:52Viola Davis:You know, but it's always helpful when I'm brave when I journal.
33:55Charlotte Owen:Yes. Yeah.
33:55Viola Davis:But if I journal thinking, if I journal and I'm thinking someone's going to see this, then it's screwy.
34:01Charlotte Owen:But yeah, it's hard though, isn't it? It's hard. But I think that's one of the things the book is those moments where she's writing to God or whatever. It's just this like radical. You really see the evolution of someone's entire thought process and self-belief. And absolutely. It's an extraordinary, extraordinary thing. Is that a book that you would go back and reread? Or is it one that you sort of just had your first experience reading? I think I reread it, I think I reread it once.
34:27Viola Davis:Yeah. And then I think I reread, I'm in the process of rereading Man Child in the Promised Land. The reason is I get nostalgic. I'm trying to remember who I was when I read the book.
34:42Charlotte Owen:Yeah, I completely relate to that. I recently reread Pride and Prejudice and I was trying to like recapture that feeling of being like 15 and just being like.
34:52Viola Davis:Oh man.
34:53Charlotte Owen:there's nothing like it is that and there's nothing like how it you know are you do you are you a big do you like I like buying good books for people and telling them I mean are you someone who likes gifting people books to read or I don't think I'm so great at that I think I'm better with going to the bookstore with my daughter oh I love that and her tastes in books are just
35:14Viola Davis:what's she reading I mean right now she's reading um the stranger Albert Camus because it's it's for a school and she really likes it oh cool i was she's like you know what mama i really like this oh good but yeah her taste yeah just and her mind i i love getting in there it's like it's because it's a young mind totally and it's a young mind in 2026 so how it hits her
35:42Charlotte Owen:is totally different yeah yeah i read that you um read all the twilight uh books with your niece I do you know what I do that I'm not gonna lie it because I love young people yeah she and she's a
35:57Viola Davis:PhD student I'm gonna say that okay she's a PhD student but she's like auntie you know these books and I said okay I'm gonna read them because I want to connect with her I couldn't believe it I think I finished them in like a week and a half they're so fun they are oh my god right oh my and Harry
36:15Charlotte Owen:Potter books read them all twice oh they're so good I had Daniel Radcliffe on last week yeah my niece Annabella I love that have they got you reading heated rivalry yet any of your like nieces
36:26Viola Davis:or anything have you had was that the next one oh heated well it's the tv show that's been adapted have you seen it everyone's talking about I haven't seen I'm okay I'm gonna be pushed into it well
36:35Charlotte Owen:it's like a queer hockey show where two these two oh yes yes yeah yeah it's incredible but I like that's not the kind of book that I would normally read but I read it because everyone was talking about it and i was like this is just such a joyful experience so to like but i have to tell you go on
36:50Viola Davis:i also like the historical fiction non-fiction margaret george oh yeah she writes cleopatra she wrote mary magdalene they're like 1200 pages i love oh they're historical they're grand sweeping camels and tents and oh my god they're fantastic yeah I agree that's the best escapism there's
37:15Charlotte Owen:nothing like it I mean obviously I love watching movies and tv shows as well but there's something about my brain unlocks in a different way with books you know and that's something that I wanted
37:24Viola Davis:to create with Judge Stone yeah I did I just wanted to create something that for the 432 pages I think it's 432 pages that you're going to get lost in Union Springs. You will be a member of that community for 432 pages. You feel it. You pull it off. It's brilliant.
37:43Charlotte Owen:I mean, are you going to adapt it?
37:46Viola Davis:I think that it's a sure thing. That's what I'm going to put in the universe because I'm a powerful manifesto.
37:52Charlotte Owen:Yes. Good for you. Because the whole time I just I wanted to see you patrolling around that courtroom, like getting out of your seat. And I love that bit where she points to the door telling us to get out with all her like gown draping down. I was like, oh, I need to see it. But no, it is so immersive, that world. And, you know, with the, I think, the twist at the end where, you know, the Joriga votes. I was so, I was shook. I mean, but I think you, yeah, it's such a journey and on such a divisive topic. But I mean, you will handle it so brilliantly.
38:23Viola Davis:Thank you. Thank you.
38:24Charlotte Owen:It's a brilliant read. Well, your final book is All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert. but tell me about your love of this book.
38:30Viola Davis:Oh my God. I read it when I had to DM her. I said, let me tell you something, Elizabeth. I read it while I was flying to Paris to do a L 'Oreal event. I could not put that book down. You know what I feel that she has? Extremely rare. First of all, well, a few things. She has an immense curiosity about herself, but an immense bravery to embrace the parts of herself that would be considered extremely ugly.
39:06Charlotte Owen:Yes.
39:07Viola Davis:And once again, it goes back to what I was saying about Richard Wright of going to that inmost cave. I'm looking at that going, I don't know if I can do that. I really don't. and um i i think that it's interesting that she named it all the way to the river because you know her friend of course is saying there's those friends that are all the way to the river friends i think i have all the way to the river friends but all also you have to be all the way to the
39:39Charlotte Owen:river friend to yourself yes all the way complete yeah until you get to the river that's what I got from there I got a complete healing journey and I thought that I got it
39:56Viola Davis:with eat pray love and now it's like this part of the journey and it stimulated something in me
40:02Charlotte Owen:it really did yeah and the way it sort of talks about active addiction and living with someone who's experiencing that is um I thought so brave and interesting really yeah there's a few things
40:15Viola Davis:I took from that book that I was like oh man you know truth is hard yes that's why sometimes you need it in small doses totally but um that we don't always die beautifully yeah yeah and just because you made straight A's and you graduated from school and now you're going to college doesn't mean you're ready to be independent no I'm like yeah and also how important it is to heal yeah and a lot of us don't because healing hurts i always say that about therapy to people when
40:51Charlotte Owen:i when i've had some like pretty bad episodes when i was younger and i will always tell my friends if they're going into it that it will often maybe get worse before it gets better i think like because you develop these coping mechanisms many of them which are unhealthy and are keeping you at like 60 instead of being able to exceed beyond that and then when you take them away you drop before you rise again absolutely and it's it's hard and you have to have that like
41:14Viola Davis:willingness to sit in it and it's but you hold on to it because it's keeping you alive even if it
41:21Charlotte Owen:keeps you miserable it's still yeah yeah are you a therapy person totally yeah have you always been
41:27Viola Davis:or did you get into it oh no i got into it later in life 28 29 yeah you know when i could afford it
41:33Charlotte Owen:well quite exactly i know i mean i remember asking my parents when i was at university and really not well i was like i really think i should see a therapist and they're like how but who's paying for that and i was like fair enough yeah we can't afford it yeah yeah it's a real it's a it's a real thing it's expense it is it is but it's it's such a like healthy uh a sort of yeah it is an incredible resource to have at your disposal with that book is are you like a binge reader in that you're like gobble us things up in a couple of days like you did with sometimes yeah yep sometimes i just gobble it up yeah i do are you ever like do you ever put a book down halfway through or are you more
42:10Viola Davis:likely to keep going oh no i have put books down halfway through that have made me so mad i really oh my god which i will not never mention of course i don't want to but some of them i'm like are you
42:21Charlotte Owen:kidding me yeah yeah you know with um judge stone i loved the mixture of setting of like the small town or and then like the farm would you ever see yourself living in like a small town environment or do you much prefer cities?
42:34Viola Davis:You know what? I always say, oh, I'm a city girl because I'm a New Yorker. I like small towns. I do. I came from a small town, Central Falls. I remember I shot a movie called Nights in Rodanthe with Diane Lane, Richard Gere. And I was in a small town for like two, three weeks in North Carolina. And... So good, so good, so good. Spring Styles are at Nordstrom Rack stores now and they're up to 60 % off. Stock up and save on Rag & Bone, Madewell, Vince, All Saints and more of your favorites.
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43:55Charlotte Owen:We'll be right back. I loved it.
43:58Viola Davis:I would go to the Y every day. I lived in a bed and breakfast. I would take myself out to eat. I feel... You know what? I feel a sense of belonging in a small town. I do. And a connection.
44:14Charlotte Owen:Do you ever go back to Central Falls?
44:16Viola Davis:Oh, all the time. Oh, really?
44:17Charlotte Owen:Do you start a family there? All the time.
44:19Viola Davis:And me and my husband, we have our foundation there, the Davis Tennant Foundation. And my family, they're still there. My mom, who's in advanced dementia, she's still in, well, she sort of lives right on the line of Central Falls, Cumberland. But yes, absolutely. And do you like going back?
44:38Charlotte Owen:Or does it feel hard?
44:40Viola Davis:All of it.
44:41Charlotte Owen:All of it. I know exactly what you mean. All of it.
44:44Viola Davis:I just, you know, and I, of course, I'm always driving back going, Julius, this is where I went to school. This is where I would walk from school to the library. And then I would walk. This is Jenks Park. this is and he's like okay v okay but is it such a complex thing i feel the same whenever i go back
45:02Charlotte Owen:to the uk i feel you know places hold such history and you feel all the full gamut of emotions when you're going when you're in them but it can be lovely as well it could be once again memory has teeth memory has teeth i just thought that was so brilliantly put and i did i just loved that moment that bit at the end of the first chapter of your memoir when the therapist sort of says to you like that girl did great and like in that you know and she like because I that's something that exactly my therapist has said to me at points as well and I think it's such a hard concept to grasp but such a beautiful one yeah it's where I got the line for um where we
45:42Viola Davis:got the line for Nova me and James Patterson which is my favorite favorite line in the book when she talks about her rapists and you could tell the shame of course is there
45:55Charlotte Owen:and she says they told me i was beautiful yeah you know it's interesting how we look for places
46:05Viola Davis:where someone sees us yes yeah in a way that we can't see ourselves even if it's coming from a place of just not even authenticity that we grab a hold of it right you know yeah yeah it's beautiful
46:20Charlotte Owen:well thank you so much for this i loved reading your books i had the best weekend getting through them and everyone i thought judge stone was so brilliant and i cannot wait to see the adaptation
46:30Viola Davis:of it if that's hopefully coming let's manifest it oh we're manifesting um thank you so much thank you
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From the publisher
In One Nightstand, celebrity readers and writers join us at The Blond in 11 Howard to discuss their favorite books. In this episode, Charlotte Owen sits down with EGOT winner and New York Times No. 1 bestseller Viola Davis, who shares the book she says brought her “into consciousness,” what she’d like to ask Richard Wright, and why she chose to quote August Wilson after Michael B. Jordan’s iconic win.
Viola Davis’ One Nightstand picks:
Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown
Black Boy by Richard Wright
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert
Judge Stone by Viola Davis and James Patterson
Viola’s new novel Judge Stone, a legal thriller co-written with James Patterson, is available everywhere now.
Credits
Director of Photography: Marshall Stief
Assistant Camera: Jasmine Velez
Producer: Aubree Lennon
Editor: James Koroni
