Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King, which stars noted actor Viola Davis, has been named the best film of 2022 by African American Film Critics Association. Set in the 1800s, it centers around a group of all-female warriors who protect the African kingdom of Dahomey.

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Davis portrays the role of General Naninsca, who mentors younger Nawi (portrayed by Thuso Mbedu). 

Who is Viola Davis? 

Viola Davis was born on August 11, 1965, in Saint Matthews, South Carolina, U.S. Brought up in Central Falls, Rhode Island, her father worked as a horse groom at nearby racetracks, and her mother earned through working in domestic and factory jobs. 

Davis began working in school productions as an actor, she also started participating in theatre competitions at a young age. She went to Rhode Island College, where she majored in theatre and graduated in 1988. 

She went on to join Young Peoples School for the Performing Arts in Rhode Island on scholarship, later on joining Julliard school, from where she got graduated in 1994. 

Davis made her Broadway debut in August Wilson’s Seven Guitars in 1996, where she acted as the lover of a musician freed from jail. Her performance gained her a Tony Award nomination. She made her film debut later that year in the drama The Substance of Fire.

She secured minor roles in Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight (1998), Traffic (2000), and Solaris (2002). In 1999, Davis starred opposite Phylicia Rashad in the Off-Broadway drama Everybody’s Ruby. 

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She made several guest appearances before getting a recurring role in City of Angels (2000), where she portrayed Lynnette, a nurse. 

Davis returned to Broadway the following year with King Hedley II, which earned her a Tony award for her portrayal of a married woman fighting for the right to abortion.  

In Doubt (2008), Davis plays the mother of a young man who might have been assaulted by a Roman Catholic Priest. Her brief but exceptional performance earned her Academy and Golden Globe award nominations for best-supporting actress. 

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Davis’s widely acclaimed role in The Help (2011), a civil rights-era film earned her Oscar and Golden Globe nods for best actress. She later played a law professor in the drama television series How to Get Away with Murder (2014–20), for which she earned an Emmy Award in 2015.

Davis received praise for her work in Widows (2018), a heist thriller that offered complex narratives of race, class, and gender. 

Davis’s memoir, Finding Me, was published in 2022.