Vale is last words before she died on
the hot one show was
[Music]
hey what's going on everybody for first
week Feast I'm Sean Evans and you're
watching hot ones it's the show with hot
questions and even hotter wings and
today we're joined by Viola Davis she's
one of the most decorated actors of the
21st century from the Broadway stage to
Emmy an academy award-winning
performances and TV and film her Memoir
of Finding Me topped the best sellers
list earlier this year and she has a
brand new film on the way as well the
historical epic the woman King which is
in theaters now Viola Davis welcome to
the show thank you how are you around
spicy food before we get started you
know I I grew up around spicy food South
Carolina you know you can't get hot
enough but you know as I've aged
some things going on my digestive system
but I'm I'm I'm hopeful
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okay
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oh my God is that a good look oh my God
oh my goodness okay I'm I should Pace
myself but this is so good
um
oh my goodness just one more mm-hmm
oh my God
so the woman King which you've described
as a black female-led Braveheart tells
the story of an all-woman Warrior Army
that fought to defend Africa's the homie
Kingdom in the 19th century how do you
break down the mechanics of shooting
epic battle scenes at the size and scale
that you see in this film like when you
have hundreds and hundreds of extras on
set what is the atmosphere or
environment like in the moments leading
up to the director saying action the
environment is just complete and total
fear
like when we shot the first Village rage
scene that's what it's called it was two
o'clock in the morning okay no I'm at
the bone
I'm just gonna suck it off
there you go I'm in with you so
it's fear
because you have to like toss 200 and
something pound of them
over your shoulder you're with you know
swords you're trying not to get hurt
we train five hours a day wow and we did
all the stunts ourselves no CGI it was
all us and sprinting at 9.410
on a treadmill by the way and did I tell
you I'm over 50. impressive you know
once you get up there in the heart rate
you lose oxygen and the fact that I'm
sitting here right now eating hot wings
and I'm still alive is a testament to
the training of this movie
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foreign
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bar I'm afraid I'm gonna disappoint you
further down the line you know
you're not disappointing me so far sir I
love that I love that
um
so in your Memoir finding me you tell a
story about auditioning at Juilliard and
jeans and a sweater while other hopefuls
practice yoga poses and did ballet and
Fitz Morris work while they waited
thinking back on those days what's an
acting exercise or warm-up technique
that you found to be actually helpful
and then can you give us another one
that stands out in your mind because
it's just you know kind of silly um
an acting exercise that's really helpful
is a breathing exercise where
you take a deep breath from your
diaphragm and you sing a song like happy
birthday like but you take it syllable
by syllable so say you take a breath
and then you really release
and you just let it all go take another
breath
and by the end you're either laughing
crying both you're hyperventilating but
the reason why it's helpful is because
it accesses your emotions
so I like that exercise a lot of the
rest put me right the damn sleep like
when you have to lay on the floor and
imagine yourself as an animal and all of
that remember the first time I did that
in class this is at Juilliard and I
think they said imagine that you're a
cloud but I fell asleep during the damn
exercise so then I woke up and I thought
that they said imagine you're a plow
so then I woke up and everybody's like
floating and floating I'm like that
doesn't look like a a a plow so I I
started pretending I was a plow so I was
crawling around my all fours going
laughs
and I remember the teacher coming up to
me and saying okay
okay
this is interesting just keep working on
it though okay just keep working on it
was like oh okay
tell the friends of them I don't know
you know yeah
I'm telling you I'm buying the odds
right now
foreign
[Music]
I love this one I love this one this is
so good
so I want to stay on the topic of
theater because when we had Kevin Bacon
on the show he talked about his time at
the Circle in the Square Theater which
is a place that I know that you likewise
thrived what is the difference in the
kind of training that you get there
compared to like a prestigious
Conservatory like Juilliard
Circle in the Square was more about you
being honest tapping into your emotion
tapping into the moment you know and
Juilliard was more about technique voice
speech breathing
staying then
um but Juilliard was helpful I feel like
I give Juilliard a bad rap a lot of
times I'm surprised they haven't called
me but but
um that was a difference
from your one woman show where you did
17 different characters to early
Renditions of hot out Baltimore Romeo
and Juliet is there a student production
that you think disproportionately shaped
your ethos as an actor
the one-woman show definitely
it really shaped me because
there's nothing like being on stage by
yourself there's no one to sort of save
you there's no one to bounce off of
except the audience and
um
I just thought I was badass back then
you know nothing had broken me down yet
I thought I was like really slick to
just be this one actor just performing
all these characters gotta always got a
standing ovation I thought that was it
you know well I've got news for you
Viola's still a badass look at you
taking on this hot ones Gauntlet
crushing it taking everything down to
the bone are you ready to move on here
to Sauce number four already yes I am I
can see it
thank you
[Music]
oh my God
oh my god did I tell you that back in
the day
my husband's ex-football player they
call him headache ball
because he could just because he said I
could rattle somebody's helmet for you
as soon as I you do because if you kill
the head the body will die he was a
linebacker and he said he would eat a
dozen eggs
you know whole package of bacon
just to get big he had a 52 inch chest
and I said Julius
I could have out eaten you back
so that's what I say to you I now eat
no arguments from this side yeah
what would you say is the biggest
difference between like a great TV show
runner and then like a great film
director
this is just my opinion now butterfly
Let it Fly
um
a great showrunner is going to lead the
writers to always
um
the writing always has to in my opinion
be consistent and just get better
that's very hard when you're doing a
show of 22-26 episodes all of them have
to be connected to the truth and life
that's what makes a good showrunner that
that's what makes a great film director
that's what makes a great teacher life
and the more people recognize life
and TB the stage and all the
collaborators are involved in doing that
then you feel less alone as an audience
member and you do not forget the
experience it's tattooed in you right
all right Mike drop now let me suck on
this damn phone
[Music]
oh yeah
[Laughter]
I'm seeing the many faces of Viola
through the hot ones gauntlet
these are so good they are oh my God you
know you can't taste it through the
camera when you're watching the show but
so far at least a delicious meal
really good
um
so Roger Ebert once wrote of your
Academy Award nominated performance in
doubt it lasts about 10 minutes but it's
the emotional heart and soul of the film
what do you see as the opportunity for
an actor when your performance is
limited to a single scene
uh see I disagree with the term there
are no small roles only small actors
even though I understand exactly where
it's coming from there are some small
roles I had a you know a line in
Kate and Leopold where I told Hugh
Jackman's character pick up your poop
pick up your dog's poop and that was it
that's a small role Mrs Miller was not a
small world even though it was like one
scene it's written within an inch of its
life you know exactly who that woman is
the key
is you always have to approach a
character as if you're creating a human
being
who is she what does she live for
what does she want based on what she
needs in life
a need is always just a basic thing like
the need to love
they need to control
the need I don't know to heal
when you do all of that and here's the
last thing you got to do
you got to take a risk
so whatever you're thinking in your mind
make a bold Choice even if it's even if
you think you're running in the wrong
direction make a choice so bold and so
out there and maybe maybe it'll stick or
maybe you'll fail which I've done a lot
but
maybe it'll stick and with that I felt
like I made a bold move especially
because I was working opposite Meryl
Streep Meryl Streep
and my nose was Dripping
[Music]
a little bit of a different kind of look
um
Steady Hand Steady Hand
I'm a stronger I'm
not a warrior I know I saw the movie I
know I know you know what wait a minute
wait wait wait wait because you know
what I just swallowed the piece
I'm going down yeah why put me down the
rabbit hole no I'm sorry I'm sorry yeah
so in 2020 you executive producer were
featured and giving voices a documentary
that put a spotlight on six students as
they competed for a chance to win the
August Wilson monologue competition is
there like a science to picking out the
right audition monologue like is there a
right or wrong way to do it I think so
I think that when you audition for
something
I think that you should always pick a
monologue that's closer to who you are
and I think you should always and always
chew
and don't talk for too long I know some
people have monologues they're just 10
minutes nobody wants to sit 10 minutes I
think you got about three four minutes
at the most okay and here's the other
thing because I always like
I'm gonna do my ceiling monologue glass
so I can blow their minds I'll end with
blowing their minds that's [ __ ] you
start with your best monologue first so
you get their attention right away
and I say that because I see it all the
time people say I'm gonna do King Lear
and you see them doing kick layer and
you're like that's not good and you're
20 years old you're doing King land
model don't do that [ __ ] but um I did
Celie from color purple and Martine from
learned ladies
the more team was like and looking back
I was like
but there is a science you do something
Dynamic you want to be memorable you
want to wake people up they've already
seen 50 people before you they don't
want to work at it
[Music]
I had to burp
[Music]
another level
but we're here but we're here you must
have a hell of a liability cloth but
people can I mean you need to topple
over
from what I gather about how you prepare
to deliver an honest performance it
starts by gathering all of the facts and
then to quote if I don't think the scene
is answering my questions I'll bother
the hell out of the director of the
characters you've played which one would
you say had the biggest transformation
or Evolution from the way the character
was written in the script to ultimately
what materialized in the performance on
screen analy's Keating for sure
that pilot that we shot I remember
because it was my first sex scene
so
and I remember Billy Brown was who
played Nate
and he was my boyfriend
and I had a husband
so boyfriend husband which sounds really
great until it comes time to shoot it
and we shot it 12 it was 12 degrees in
Philadelphia and she meets Nate and they
have sex on top of the car I'm not the
hood
right outside of my house while my
husband's in in his office
you know no disrespect but I didn't
believe that they wrote from a
perspective of making her real
I just felt like she was coming from a
past where there was trauma and sexual
abuse ping ping so you see you're
painting the character and then she
changed her name why is she changing her
name whoever she was
she hated so there was a level of
self-love that wasn't there and
juxtaposed that with this badass
criminal defense attorney then you start
shaping a person
and so but that kept like conversations
had to keep happening
for me to do that
so that's it
[Music]
[ __ ] I'm shaking me too
[Music]
I know
[Music]
immediately
[Music]
nothing redeemable about it
nobody's ever whooped your ass after all
these chicken wings
when we had Idris Alba on he stopped the
show and goes whose idea what is it the
Creator Chris Schoenberger he actually
traveled with us to London to shoot this
episode Idris at that time he owes Chris
can you fight like he challenged Chris
to a fight in the studio and Chris is
not here all the time but he actually is
here today
oh my mm-hmm
totally different level
so when we had David Harbor on the show
called Law and Order the Dick Wolf
subsidy for the Arts what do you see as
the significance of law dramas and soap
operas was like an endowment for
performers
you gotta repeat that damn question
the thing about law dramas is it really
challenges your process as an actor
it's hard to tap into emotion because
I know
I'm I'm surprised I'm not pissing in my
pants right now
I was not a puddle and piss right here
well I'm going down that damn rabbit
oh [ __ ] anyway
when you're doing a courtroom scene you
have to pull out all your Technique
because a lot of it is just technical
terms but it has to be still Dynamic
emotionally connected
and
you're working with so many different
actors you're working with the actors
playing the judge people who understand
you feel like you have more of an
audience in the courtroom and that's it
because you know what I can't talk
anymore I mean my lips are burning off
and I got some lips
[Music]
how can you say you're being my friend
I mean you're a very lovely man and
you're sort of cute too oh but let me
tell you something
I don't believe you
that this one's not as bad as the last
one no I would never lie to you I would
never lie to you Viola Davis
all right
so this is unique garlic here
from pucker butt pepper company
it's no walk in the park but
a little bit easier than the last one
did I tell you I had to panic attack
once no I didn't you didn't tell me this
Meryl Streep who's a very lovely woman
by the way but she did something to me
she could not go to the first Critics
Choice Award and she knew she was good
some awards you know you're gonna win in
advance this is way back in the day
and she said viola
can you accept my award for me I want
you to do it because I can't be there I
said yeah
oh that's such an honor oh my God now I
forgot that this was the first award
show I had ever been to I go that award
show and I proceed to have the worst
panic attack just like I'm having right
now with my legs couldn't stop moving
I began to cry
I couldn't I literally could not move
and I had to get up on that stage and
accept the word for Meryl Streep and
guess what what she didn't tell me what
to say
so I'm saying that to you now because
my legs are moving yeah
well the good news is we're almost to
that finish line here
all right Viola Davis
I'll believe you with this one
I didn't lie to you I didn't lie to you
about the last one did I did that tell
you have a really big husband that used
to play football and ate 12 eggs a day
but he can swing a really good baseball
bat so you better do it really here
I said to look around
keep my head on a swivel
you do this one mm-hmm
it's not open
so like so you can't you can't you're in
the clear mm-hmm
this is a hard one
they're all hard they're all hard at
this point but
we're there
[Music]
I know
so we've hit the clip notes on just a
sliver of your amazing journey but to
close things out I've heard you quote
the famous mythologist Joseph Campbell
and as the saying goes the privilege of
a lifetime is being who you are what
does that mean to you
now we're about to get deep yep
well I'm choking today
that's the show
Viola's last words before she died on
the hot one show was
I just feel like our whole journey in
our life is becoming our ideal selves
you know we get stripped away as we go
along the journey
where it's like I've gotten to the point
in my life it's like I've been sold a
bill of goods
you know that really at the end of the
day you come into this world you are
absolutely who you are then your parents
come along and they try to imprint
themselves on you your friends
Society you know this is a school you
have to go to this is how pretty you
have to look this is what you have to
wear
and I think somewhere along the line is
a voice deep within you that tells you
exactly who you are you just have to
have the courage to do that that's what
the Journey of the hero is all about you
know you're born into a world where you
don't fit in
and then you answer the call to
Adventure and you
deny the call and then at one point you
then set out on your path
all right and you slay dragons you do
all of that and then at some point you
come face to face with not a God but
yourself
okay
and somewhere along line and you get it
your aha moment your Elixir and you go
back to your Ordinary World and you
share it with others
and I think that's the journey
and I think that's the privilege of
being absolutely Who You Are
belonging to yourself
and being brave
slaying dragons
was it a battle against the spice or a
battle against ourselves either way
Viola Davis we came out on top and now
there's nothing left to do but roll out
the red carpet for you this camera this
camera this camera let the people know
what you have going on in your life
foreign
the woman King September 16th see it in
theaters
U
you'll see what I mean
oh my God
first of all the wings are really good
but
fantastic questions oh well thank you so
much are you an actor dude no I've only
played myself one time uh opposite Maya
Rudolph and the Apple TV show Luke
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