I just look at women sometimes and I just want to ask them, "Do you know how fabulous you are?"
Viola DavisEvery artist, true artist, struggles with an overwhelming sense of feeling like you're not worthy.
Viola DavisThere's a big difference in doing a play or doing any project that not a lot of people see and then a project that you know everyone will see. There is more pressure, performance anxiety per se. And then when you do and what you love is really put to test.
Viola DavisAny actor will tell you, as soon as your ego and your vanity come into the mix, it destroys your work. Completely destroys it.
Viola DavisI've been in this business 25 years. I've been eking out a living doing Broadway, off-Broadway... I've seen the unemployment line a lot.
Viola DavisWhen you shoot a scene, you remember every moment. You remember when your head went down, your head went up. You don't see little quirks, little eye movements, little lip movements. Once again, you become completely vain when you're watching it in a way that you weren't when you were shooting it. And the vanity, what it makes you focus on are everything that has nothing to do with the scene and everything to do with your own ego.
Viola Davis