Viola Davis Cements Herself as Pop Culture Icon as She Achieves EGOT Status After Last Night's Grammy Win

by Darian Scalamoni

    It's about time that Viola Davis got her flowers. The legendary artist achieved a massive feat last night achieving EGOT status after securing a Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording for her memoir, Finding Me. This win cemented Davis as a winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award.

    Davis first added to her statue collection with a Tony Award win in 2001 for her role in King Hedley II before subsequently winning another for her terrific performance in Fences on Broadway in 2010. When Fences was adapted for the screen in 2017 by her stage and on-screen partner Denzel Washington, she also had won her first Academy Award for reprising her role as Rose Maxson in the August Wilson production. Davis secured her Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for the popular ABC mystery series, How to Get Away with Murder in 2015. Davis finished off the EGOT last night at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in a pre-broadcast ceremony.

    Davis joins the other 17 artists who have achieved EGOT status which includes names such as Mel Brooks, Whoopi Goldberg, Mike Nichols, Andew Lloyd Webber and Jennifer Hudson. Davis became only the fourth black artist to achieve the honor after Goldberg, Hudson and John Legend. 

    Many believe that Davis was snubbed for an Academy Award nomination for her leading role in the historical action drama The Woman King, however, the actress did receive a BAFTA nomination for her work as Nanisca in the film. She also occupies a major role in the DCU as Amanda Waller, who has recruited both iterations of The Suicide Squad for both the James Gunn film and David Ayer film. Davis reprised her role as Waller in two episodes of HBO Max's Peacemaker and following the big chapter one announcement for the DCU moving forward, it was announced that she is getting her own limited series titled Waller for the streaming service.

    Davis has a major 2023 in store as well. She'll first play Michael Jordan's mother, Deloris in Ben Affleck's Air in April. Following that, she'll appear as the antagonist in the upcoming prequel film The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes alongside Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage and Euphoria's Hunter Schafer. Davis will also voice Amanda Waller in the upcoming DC animated series, Creature Commandos.