[ In My Own Words ] Viola Davis - How I Found My Strength

She Rose From A Childhood In Poverty To Become One Of Hollywood’s Biggest Stars. Now The Actress Opens Up About Success, Love And The Source Of Her Indomitable Spirit

- Julie Jordan

There’s something magnetic about Viola Davis. Maybe it’s her commanding voice—her cadence peppered with reflective pauses—or the way she carries herself. Confident. Beautiful. She grew up in Central Falls, R.I., in a family with so little that she and her five siblings often went hungry. But through any dark moments, Davis would find the light. Now as she gets ready to say goodbye to her hit ABC series How to Get Away with Murder, the Tony, Oscar and Emmy winner—who was just named a new ambassador for L’Oréal Paris—is looking forward to more quality time with her husband of 16 years, actor Julius Tennon, 65, and their daughter Genesis, 8. “I have to say the first thing I’m going to do is take a vacation,” she says. “Does that sound good? Nothing. Peace.” Davis, 54, recently sat down with People to share how she learned to let go of self-doubt and why she always chooses hope—and love.

A Tumultuous Childhood

I have always been one of those people who took anything anyone wanted to give me, any sort of rope anyone threw me. That’s what you do when you’re in the hole with the dirt and the grime and you have nothing. You grab the rope, because you want to survive. When I was that young scrappy girl growing up, I realized we were poor. But I was making my way through it. You either hope or you don’t. And it was hope and dreams that made me put my feet on the floor every morning and just approach every day with a sense of enthusiasm. It was my fight or flight that kicked in.