Say Hello to Viola Davis. The new face of Loreal "Because she's worth it"
Viola is no stranger to hard work and perseverance. She started her humble beginnings struggling her way to better. “I was the kind of poor where I knew right away I had less than everyone around me,” she says. “We had nothing.” Growing up in Central Falls, R.I., Davis and her five siblings endured harsh living conditions as their parents, Dan and Mae Alice, struggled to make ends meet. “I would jump in trash bins with maggots looking for food, and I would steal from the corner store because I was hungry,” the actress says. “I never had any kids come to my house because my house was a condemned building, it was boarded up, it was infested with rats. I was one of those kids who were poor and knew it.”
| The only childhood photo of Viola Davis. Her mother couldn't afford a camera. |
Fast forward years later and you're looking at a graduate of the prestigious Julliard School of Art in New York City, and the first black woman to ever be nominated for three Academy Awards, Davis has been paving her own way for more than 30 years, with powerful performances in films like 2011’s The Help and on TV, where she currently stars in ABC’s How to Get Away With Murder.
Starting from poverty and feeling like you're nothing-- because you have nothing-- can really put a toll on your self esteem. Viola admits she struggled with this feeling for awhile."I thought the only way for people to see me was when I was on the red carpet," "I could wear the dress, I could wear the lipstick. I was trying to show that I was good enough. I think that is too much of an ongoing narrative out there: that you get your worth from something on the outside. Really, if it’s not coming from within, it's coming from no place." the actess says. Viola is a light. A bright light and the epitome of knowing ones worth. Circumstances do not define you, character does. A worthy character is well deserving of the spot light. Good Job Loreal.
