I never do reviews but made a special effort to say, if you are on the fence you won't regret giving this your time. I also love her story about her hubby, chiiiiiiile— AINT NOTHING LIKE A SOUTHERN MAN… I too, tend to lean towards them as well because they simply understand so much! It’s also a love letter to her craft; a marveling at the power of art to transform both its object and creator, yes, but also a reflection on its nature and facets — how did it look like liberated from the constraints of eurocentrism?

Viola prayed to meet a good man, and finally, on the set of 'City of Angels', she met Julius Tennon, whom she later married. She does not color rose over childhood glasses — she saw her daddy’s drunken beatings of her mom to within an inch of her life — yet, she can love the man he becomes without punishing him for his past. Trying to fully understand her ‘entire’ life story and ‘how’ she survived unfathomable traumatic conditions—for years—as a child —is staggering….An honest, unflinching, and utterly brilliant account of how one of the best actors of our time became who she is today.

Viola is as unwavering with the recollection of her own pain and trauma as she is wholehearted with the reminiscence of her hope and healing.She doesn’t hold back any details and reading about all the rats she lived with and the abuse she witnessed and experienced felt heartbreaking.

There was also conversation about the treatment of theater versus film which I found to be extremely intriguing. Every painful memory, every mentor, every friend and foe served as a chisel, a leap pad that has shaped “ME! The weight of generational trauma and having to fight for your basic needs doesn’t leave room for anything else. I know much of these facts - our 40 year old daughter is a steady working actor in Hollywood since childhood]…. totally enjoyed, although there are many experiences she's has had that brought me back to my own which was hard.Viola Davis, Inside Out: How she drew on a life of private hardship to become one of the greatest actors of her generation. The title to be read and discussed is sign-posted and on sale for the whole of the previous month (with a discount for those who make it known they intend to come) and everybody is welcome, whether first-timer, part-timer or regular-timer. After getting past the early(nightmare) childhood years —-Viola began her career (so damn interesting of even how she got from A to B), in Central Falls, Rhode Island…. Nevertheless, Viola persevered and graduated after five years, part of it spent in the theater program at the California Polytechnic University in Pomona, on a student exchange plan. We need to examine, explore, scrutinize, question, contemplate, dig deep, chew, study, and appraise….