Checking in with VIOLA DAVIS
While she has the summer off from “How to Get Away With Murder,” Viola Davis is staying in business with ABC on a legal drama ... a true one.
Along with husband Julius Tennon, the Oscar and Emmy winner is an executive producer of “The Last Defense,” a documentary series that examines how two convicts ended up on death row. Premiering Tuesday, June 12, the program traces the circumstances that have found the pair – a wife and mother who maintains her innocence in the deaths of her two young sons, and a college student who was on a scholarship when sentenced for a carjacking and murder – long awaiting their respective fates.
During a panel following a screening of “The Last Defense” at the Tribeca Film Festival in April, Davis explained her desire to “lead a life of significance” as a motivator for her involvement in the project. “I wanted to be a conduit of change. I think of the statement by Barbara Jordan, the great congresswoman: ‘What the people want is very simple. They want an America as good as its promise.’ And I think that what we’ve seen is a justice system that simply doesn’t work for everyone.
‘What’s happened is that we’ve turned a blind eye to it, “Davis reasons, ”because we cannot possibly believe that people can be put on death row and be innocent. There’s just no way. I always say that the ‘voiceless’ people are screaming loud and clear. They need people to fight with them and for them, and they need to be given a face.
“With her television-series fame and her Academy Award win for “Fences,” Davis certainly is such a public face. She notes, “People keep saying. ‘Is this just a recent development, the criminal justice system not working?’ I think it has always been the case. Everyone has the right to a fair trial, and public defenders are overworked and underpaid ... yet, especially if you’re poor, that’s all you’ve got. And we have a responsibility to make the justice system work for everyone.”
Birthdate: Aug. 11, 1965
Birthplace: St. Matthews, S.C.
Current residence: Los Angeles
Marital status: Married to actor-producer Julius Tennon; has two stepsons and an adopted daughter
Other television work includes: “How to Get Away With Murder,” “Scandal,” “United States of Tara,” “The Andromeda Strain,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Traveler,” “Century City,” several “Jesse Stone” movies
Movie work includes: “Fences,” “Suicide Squad,” “Get on Up,” “Ender’s Game,” “Prisoners,” “Beautiful Creatures,” “Won’t Back Down,” “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” “The Help,” “Eat Pray Love,” “Knight and Day,” “Law Abiding Citizen,” “State of Play,” “Madea Goes to Jail,” “Doubt,” “Nights in Rodanthe,” “Disturbia,” “World Trade Center,” “Solaris,” “Antwone Fisher,” “Far From Heaven,” “Kate & Leopold,” “City of Angels,” “Traffic,” “Out of Sight.”