On April 13, Viola Davis shared her journey to forgiveness in an exclusive interview with People Magazine.
The 56-year-old actress opened up about her upcoming memoir “Finding Me.” She discussed her abusive childhood, living in poverty, being bullied and rising above it all. The Rhode Island native also vividly detailed what life was like growing up with five siblings and with a father who physically and mentally abused their mother. She would eventually forgive him for his transgressions.
“How you react is based on survival. The key is to survive. I did what was at my hand to do at eight years old. I fought. And that fighting served me because I’m still on my feet,” Viola explained.
Her father, Dan, was a horse groomer who dropped out of school in the second grade. And for the better part of his almost five decades-long marriage, Viola told the publication that he put his hands on her mother, Mae Alice. Toward the end of his life, Dan made amends with his daughter and wife. He passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2006.
“My dad changed. My mom said he apologized to her every single day. Every single day, he rubbed her feet. Forgiveness is not pretty. Sometimes people don’t understand that life is not a Thursday-night lineup on ABC. It is messy. He did hurt me then, but love and forgiveness can operate on the same plane as anger.”
On forgiving and loving her abusive patriarch, Viola felt healing was necessary to move forward.
“I wanted to love my dad,” she expressed. “And here’s the thing: My dad loved me. I saw it. I felt it. I received it, and I took it. For me, that’s a much better gift and less of a burden than going through my entire life carrying that big, heavy weight of who he used to be and what he used to do. That’s my choice. That’s my legacy: forgiving my dad.”
The talented actress has been happily married to actor Julius Tennon, 68, for almost 20 years. They share an 11-year-old daughter, Genesis. Finally, moving on and having joy in her life is Viola’s ultimate accomplishment– given her traumatic upbringing.
“I count it all as joy. I do. All of those things happened to me, but I own it. And it’s a part of who I am. It’s given me an extraordinary sense of compassion,” she confessed. “It’s reconciling that young girl in me and healing from the past—and finding home.”
“Finding Me” drops on April 26. HarperOne Publishing is releasing the memoir.
