Viola Davis on Good Hang with Amy Poehler

Hello everyone. Welcome to another

episode of Good Hang. We have the best

of the best. We have the GOAT. We have

Viola Davis joining us. And man, we talk

about so many fun things. We talk about

uh growing up in Rhode Island and Boston

and how we get rid of those accents. We

talk about our mutual best friend,

Merryill Streep. We talk about the time

she jumped out of a plane and all the

swearing she did on the way down. and we

talk about the new book that she

co-wrote with James Patterson called

Judge Stone out now. So, we're going to

get into a lot of great stuff and we're

thrilled to have her here. And as we

always do, we talk to someone at the

beginning of the show uh that we that

knows our guest or is a fan of our guest

and has a question for us and we talk

well behind their back and boy, we've

got just a gem of a person. Julius

Tenan, Viola Davis's husband, partner,

producing partner, incredible,

loving supportive

wonderful man who makes us all believe

in love. He's the only spouse that we've

allowed to be on the show um so far and

uh the expectation is high. So, I cannot

wait to talk to Julius. Julius, thank

you for joining us. Hi,

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>> Hello, Julius. Can you hear me?

>> Hey, I can. Hey, Andrew.

>> Hi. It's such a pleasure to meet you.

>> Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you, too.

And I just want to say quickly that we

love you and um you're always amazing

and funny as hell and

all that stuff. So, so nice to meet you,

>> Julius. Thank you so much.

>> You got me blushing already. Thank you

for saying that. I want you to know that

we

>> I mean it. I mean it.

>> Well, I I can tell that about you. I

think you you say what you mean. You and

Biola.

>> Yes. Yes, we do. Mhm. Thank you for

that. Um, we, you know, so we do this

thing at the beginning of whenever we

interview someone. We talk to someone

that knows them really well and we get a

question um for them and we just talk

well behind their back. And I want you

to know you are the first spouse

that we have spoken to among all of our

guests.

>> I feel I feel honored

>> and I think it's because you two seem to

actually really like each other.

>> We kind of do. We kind of do.

Now, pleasure to meet you, Julius. You

know, you're an actor, writer, producer,

you're the president of Juvie

Productions, which is the company that

you and Viola and others run. And you've

got amazing projects that you've done

and are and are getting ready to do. But

can I start by just asking you um to

take us back to the day that you and

Viola met on set?

>> Oh, wow. That was incredible. It was

1999. It was City of Angels. I was

playing an anesthesiologist.

Uh she was nurse Lynette Peeler and um I

was passing blood to her and I was uh

dating a girl at the time that I wasn't

so happy with. And then so I said, "Wow,

this lady looks like she could be

somebody nice I could maybe give my card

to." So at the end of the day, I gave

her my card and I had my shirt on. The

story is Viola said, "If my shirt had

been off, she would have never called

me. But I had my shirt on and I gave her

my card and I said, "Hey, if you ever

want to hang out, whatever, whatever,

give me a call." Well, she did. A month

later, she called me. I had literally

forgot about it, but I hadn't forgot

about her. So, when I heard her voice, I

went "Hey

what?" And then she invited me to uh a

cast thing for the main cast because I

was recurring on the show. And um we

went out on our first date almost 27

years ago. And here we are 23 years

married coming up this summer, 27 years

this October. So, it's been beautiful.

But that's how that's how it started.

>> Oh, I love that story. And I love that

you guys met just your typical way, just

passing blood to each other.

>> Yeah. Just passing the regular stuff,

just passing blood, you know, and she

kind of fit in those, you know, she fit

in those things pretty good. And I was

like, h, okay, let me give this GIRL MY

CARD.

I MEAN, WHAT'S so sweet about hearing

the two of you talk about each other is

you both met each other

um when you were coming up.

>> Yeah.

>> And absolutely.

>> What's it like to be,

>> you know, two young actors

um working hard to make ends meet and,

you know, being in love?

>> Listen, it's tough. Listen, when I met

Viola, she was scared to tell me she had

bad credit. I said, "Hey, baby, it's

okay. I got good credit."

You know, but it's it was it's one of

those tough things, but you know, Amy,

it's about supporting one another. You

one, the other one supports the other

equally. And uh and that's what we did.

We just went about kind of loving on

each other and being happy for one

another with whatever dropped, whatever

happened. And so, uh, just so happened

that Viola's career just really started

to take off and it's been a beautiful

thing and, uh, I'm glad to be a part of

it. People, how do you handle it? How do

you do what you do? Whatever. I said,

cuz I know who I am. See, for a man, it

starts with you knowing who you are. I

don't care how powerful your woman is or

what she's doing. If your woman knows

that you can handle yourself and that

you know who you are, then she's going

to go, "Wow, hey, my guy is good." And

so that's the way Viola and I have

rolled. So, it's about me supporting her

and and vice versa. So, it's just been

easy for us.

>> Oh, Julius.

Everyone listening right now is just

GOING

JULIUS.

I'm just going to play that on a loop.

>> Oh, thank you. And it is the truth.

>> But you're right. But you have to know

who you are. You're right. Especially in

our business because it can be so

competitive. Even though we're not

competing against each other. I'm a man,

>> you're a woman.

>> But we're not competing against each

other, but we're in the same business.

And sometimes that intersection when one

is elevating and the other is kind of

like not it can create a lot of

different kind of uh weird kind of

energy and things in a relationship. And

so listen, what this is what we do is

not who we are.

this acting thing and all that's what we

do. It's not who we are. So, we figured

that out early on and so it's just been

always easy because it's always been in

support of one another.

>> Well, it's a beautiful thing because

you're you're reminding me of just the

the word self in the phrase self-esteem.

It really is your own work to do always.

>> Amy, I can say that I met Viola almost

27 years ago. She's the same woman I met

when I met her all those years ago.

hadn't changed a bit, but everything

that's happened to her, she's still the

same Viola. And I think that's what

makes people just so drawn to Viola

because she's so real and so authentic.

>> Can we talk about the woman king?

Because congratulations on that.

>> Thank you so much. What a Yeah.

>> What was that like making that together?

>> It was a great journey. It was great to

be able to do a movie like that because

a movie like that hadn't been done in

Hollywood ever.

>> That's right. And so to be able to do a

movie like that and have it come out so

beautiful, so um accepted by the

audiences on a global scale, it meant a

whole whole lot to to Viola and myself.

And so we just went all in despite the

challenges, despite not necessarily

having enough money to make it, but

still saying, you know what, be damned.

We're just going to go make it anyway

because we know it's going to have a

cultural impact and it's going to be

longlasting. And as it turned out, it

you know, AFI chose it that year to be

one of the great films that was made

that year. And so we're we're just so

proud to have done that together and um

and battling it out, you know, just

battling it out, fighting in and what

you want, you know, as hard as it is,

Amy, you just have to keep putting one

foot in front of the other. If you want

something, you have to go for it. And

that's what Viola and I continually with

our team because I'm a big team guy.

Well, I was going to say you're a

football ex- football player.

>> I am an ex- football player.

>> Did you ever coach?

>> I never coached

>> because you have a coach. Coach, but I

was, you know, I was I wanted to act. I

was kind of like I looked at, you know,

my idols back in the day when I was

thinking about acting and playing

football. You know, it was it was Jim

Brown, Bernie Casey, uh Fred Williamson,

some of the old school guys from way

back in the day when I was saying,

"Shit, they can do it. I can do it." So,

you know, and so that was kind of a

thing. And uh but I always love the

arts. I always love it started with

poetry and then you know obviously

>> well you have you have Julius you have

you have a real coach vibe and you do

something that I absolutely love which

is every other sentence you say my name

and boy does it work every time he say

my name I'm like yes

>> he's talking to me

I love it so much um okay I'm sure

you've uh you've got a sense now of what

Viola likes to be asked and what she

like is asked constantly about and

doesn't want to answer anymore. Like you

know there's always these questions that

are like you know people think they're

asking for the first time or topics that

is there anything you would if you don't

mind helping me out to make sure I don't

get into an area or a question that

she's like h this again.

>> Well you know I think it it would be fun

to ask her some questions about some of

the funny moments that we had together.

This one is ask her the origin of Zonyi.

Okay,

>> ask her. Say, Viola, what's this whole

thing about Zoom? How what is that

thing? Well, let me just tell you a

little bit. It's it's a it's a animated

uh Muppet cartoon that I grew up with

and the show was called Fireball XL5

>> and Zouri was one of the endearing

characters and they were going on space

exploration. It was about that and I was

a kid. I love that show. And so that's a

pet name I gave Viola. I call her Zouri.

And and the reason I do because I love

Zouri so much and I love Viola. So that

is so endearing to me. So when I'm

calling her Zonyi, it's not because of

what Zonyi looks like. It's because I

love the hell out of Zoney.

>> Okay. But I'm going to have to Google

Zouri and see what Z.

>> Yeah. You got to Google Google him real

quick and and you'll see Fireball XL5.

Okay. And you'll Z. But I love Zouri. So

ask her about Zi. Okay.

>> Other thing is ask her about our first

theatrical experience, Shadow of a

Gunman. Oo,

>> just say you and Judas went to a place

this shadow of a gunman thing. What is

what is that? Vio, give

>> give us let us, you know, she'll tell

you. It's kind of a funny story. You

know, the the regular questions about

the business and all that. We can always

talk about projects and stuff like that.

And she's great to talk about that

stuff, but she she often times doesn't

like to talk about the mundane stuff

that you have to answer a thousand

times, but it always surprises me. She's

always able to answer this stuff as if

it was new. I'm like going, "How the

hell you do that, Viola?" you know,

like, yeah. I'm like, why you doing

that? Okay. Well, she always going,

"People think I can pull a rabbit out of

my ass." And I'm going, "Well, you kind

of can."

>> Well, Julius, I know. Um,

you guys, you're the best couple in the

world. And you're We're not going to be

able to interview any other spouse after

this because you set such a high bar.

Well,

>> and not like it's a competition, but

you've won a gold medal in

relationships.

>> Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure

being with you this morning.

>> Same. Love talking to you. Thank you so

much for your time and uh and such a

pleasure. Thanks again.

>> You too. Have a great day.

>> Take care. Bye.

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>> Biola Davis is here.

>> I'm so so happy that you're here.

>> I'm happy to be here. I' I've been like

not working for the longest time. So, I

feel like it's I feel like I'm coming

out of hibernation and I'm like, "Holy

[ __ ] this is what I do."

>> Well, I got to tell you, we got to start

by saying you were the first EGOT we've

had and probably the last. I mean, let's

get real. I mean, that was

>> There's not a lot of us.

>> No, there's like 18 19.

>> Uh-huh. I have to tell you that it

wasn't until I won the Oscar for Fences

and someone said, "You're one step away

from an EGOT." I never thought of it

before. I didn't think about it. Wasn't

like that sort of thing for me.

>> Is that's so cool. I mean, it's just it

is. And I again, not something anyone's

like thinking about when they're

starting out, but just

>> it's cool.

>> It's cool.

>> It is. It's cool.

>> It's cool.

>> It's not going to be on my gravestone,

Amy, but it's cool.

>> It is so cool. Well, my on my

gravestone, it's gonna be that I

interviewed you, that winner. And also

before we get started, I just got to say

the Timmy Sha Timothy Timote Shalamé

shout out

>> was so cool.

>> Oh, and my daughter was that was it for

her.

>> Mhm.

>> She's 15. That was it. Timothy Shalomé,

mama.

>> I mean, good company to be in. And of

course, we all agreed with him. But you

spoke about it and I love what you said

about how you loved his speech. What did

you love about it? Cuz I did too. Like

the essence of what he was saying in

that speech. Well, because what I loved

about the speech is he has a spirit of

excellence.

>> You know, some people

I always negotiate, Amy. So, if you feel

like I take a long pause, I'm just

negotiating what I'm about to say. So, I

don't step on toes and I don't work ever

again in the industry. But, um, some

people don't have the spirit of

excellence. They have this spirit of um

mistaken their presence for the event.

>> Yeah.

>> For mediocrity, for just um beauty, but

it's great that he had the spirit of

excellence without putting me in it.

>> Yeah.

>> At all. I'm not saying that.

>> But I love that with young actors. And

and and I also I love when people are um

uh I guess openly ambitious

>> and in real time saying I really want to

try to get the best out of myself and

others like when they say it.

>> Absolutely.

>> Ambition too is different than ego.

>> Yeah, that's right.

>> And I saw the ambition in him and he

happens to be incredibly talented. So

what kids like I like young people

listen just like I love bad kids I love

a bad kid like a 2-year-old bad kid

someone who comes you know I had a

little bad kid at my wedding my first

wedding I had three ceremonies Amy but

my first wedding I had a little bad kid

who stuck his whole finger in my cake I

thought it was the best thing in the

world so I love a bad kid but I also

love young people who have an attitude I

do listen the world is going to get at

you it's going to kick your ass just

leave you in the dumpster. So, it's

really great when you go out in the

world and you have the hutbah, you have

that self-possession, right? That's what

I want with my kid. I was so so much of

a good girl.

>> Mhm.

>> You know, with shitty boyfriends who

made me feel like [ __ ] and I was just

still like worshiping at their feet. So,

yeah. I like Yeah, I like I like

attitude.

>> Do you think that's an East Coast thing?

Cuz we're both East Coast. I grew up in

Boston. You're Rhode Island. You weren't

born there, but you spent most of your

time in Rhode Island.

>> Okay. Boston.

>> Yeah. And what's the difference between

Boston and Rhode Island?

>> Nothing. You still say Florida. You

know, you parked the car and your father

and your father and your mother viola.

Oh my god. I eat grinders and cabinets.

>> Okay.

>> You drink from the bubbler.

>> Oh yeah. Bubbler.

>> Mhm.

>> Yes.

>> The first time I said bubbler was at

California,

>> which is a water fountain anywhere else.

>> And I said, "You know where the bubbler

is?" And guy literally he he stood there

for the longest time. He was like, "What

the [ __ ] are you talking about?"

>> Totally.

>> And he finally said the water fountain.

I was like, "Water fountain with the

statues?"

>> Well, did you say pocketbook instead of

purse?

>> Oh, no. Pocketbook all the way.

>> Pocketbook and wicked good. Wicked.

Everything is wicked good. I mean, my

parents would they would go into a bar,

they'd be like, "Can we have a beer?"

And they'd be like, "Oh, you're from

Boston." And they'd be like, "How do you

know? Well, just one word. There's a

part of growing up on the East Coast

that gives you a directness that I I

wouldn't want to trade. I like that

about people.

>> Yes.

>> But the other side of that coin can be

like a roughness, like a just a

toughness and roughness.

>> And you know, Amy, I'm black. So, um,

comes with a different set of rules of

roughness. Yeah.

>> You know, and so, you know, I came from

>> plain spoken people.

>> Yeah. You know, I always say it's like

it's like

I'm negotiating. Um

>> Oh my god. I love the sound of your

negot

when you're thinking what to say.

>> Yeah. Tupac. You can put Tupac music,

but I just remember visiting someone's

at one point and I took a bus.

>> Mhm.

>> And I got off the bus and I told my

friend, "Well, make sure some the person

who's coming to pick me up, they know

who I am." Okay. I waited there, Amy, 30

minutes, maybe longer,

>> waiting for the person to pick me up.

Finally, I find them. I go to my friend

and I said, "Why couldn't they find me?"

And he said, "Well, I described you." I

said, "Well, how did you describe me?"

"Oh, I just said you were cute and you

had long hair, Amy. I'm black with long

braids." I said, "Did you tell him I was

black?" I was the only black girl on the

bus. He was like, "Oh, I didn't feel

like I could say that." You know, but

the thing with Well, you're talking

about plain spoken thing about black

people, they call it as it is. You know,

that black girl who come out and and she

got the tattoo on her left titty and she

got one tooth coming out of her mouth.

It's that girl.

>> Yeah.

>> So, it's it's that sort of plain

spokenness I grew up with with my mom

and dad. They were that plain spoken.

Well, you talk I mean you've spoken

beautifully about your childhood growing

up and the difficulties in it and the

way that you've like

>> been processing it in real time as an

adult now and but I think and I I don't

know if this is the same for you as I

get older

>> I start trying to look at my my origin

the place of origin and figure out what

gifts it gave me and what pain it gave

me at the same time right and there is

this something about growing up in the

east coast I don't know that sticks with

you And I know this sounds silly, but

like the accent that we just did, like

the accent sticks around. I always say

like when I'm angry or really excited,

my accent comes out sometimes.

>> Yeah.

>> Does your accent

>> My accent comes out too, even when I'm

acting?

>> Yeah.

>> Especially in an emotional scene. And it

just surprises me. It'll jump out at me.

And you know, of course, I went to a

school in New York that kills your

accent. Yeah. you you'll get thrown out

if you still have an accent at Giuliard

by your fourth year, right?

>> And by my second year, they warned me

and said, "You cannot come back to the

school until you

>> fix up whatever the hell this is going

on." And so I remember like every single

day for two hours practicing how to say

father

>> instead of father.

>> Father. And and you know at Giuliard

when you speak too if when you're

walking around they put a pencil in your

mouth

>> during rehearsal. They put a pencil in

your mouth to see where your tongue is

when you're articulating your sentences.

So I was traumatized into just

catapulting that

>> not realizing that's a beautiful thing.

>> Yeah. Have you ever got to play anyone

with a you know with an a Rhode Island

accent or Boston accent and like let it

rip?

>> No. pay me.

>> Nobody's writing a black girl from Rhode

Island roles.

>> Well, maybe we do a road trip. Maybe I

need to write it.

>> Maybe you need to write I mean I mean

you're what you're talking about going

to Giuliard and and you've talked a lot

about it and your training there and

like what you took from it and before

you got there who told you or when did

you have that feeling of I want to I

want to be an actor? It's

>> the reason why I ask I was I'm I'm the

daughter of of of school teachers. No

one I knew was an actor. I didn't know

any actors. I didn't like of course I

knew famous people in movies and TV, but

I didn't know that would be a job of

mine,

>> but I was in school plays and people

would come up and say, "You were good."

>> Yeah. Exactly.

>> You know, like you

>> Exactly. And it surprises you, right?

Yeah.

>> But but for me it's um it's gradual. So,

it's hard to pinpoint one person in one

moment,

>> but I swear to you, the more I think

about it, I have to pinpoint the moment

that we won the skit contest at Jens

Park

>> when I was 8 years old.

>> Amy, that was it.

>> Yeah.

>> Cuz I was so shy.

>> Yeah.

>> You know, and brutally shy. Like to the

point where I couldn't speak in public.

And so, we did the skit, you know, and I

played the ooey kid from That's My Mama.

That's Ted Lang. I don't know if you

remember that show. I don't want to age

you or whatever.

>> What show?

>> It's called That's My Mama.

>> Okay.

>> And he was a ooey kid. He was a gossipy

guy. He would come in and go, "Oo,

I got it. I got it. I'm here to report

it." So I was a ooey kid. My sister

Dolores was um what's his name from

Let's Make a Deal. Montel.

>> Oh, Monty Hall.

>> Monty Hall. She was Monty Hall. My

sister Anita was uh was uh Esther. Aunt

Esther from Sanford and Son and my

sister um uh Diane was Fred Sanford.

>> Oh my god.

>> I think I put I have it in my book, but

we created a uh a game show sort of

reality show where we had to come on and

tell a story of how you saved a life and

whoever had the best story won a million

dollars.

>> What were what are you in the in the

birth order of the sisters?

>> Um next to the youngest. I have one

younger sister who was my baby.

>> Mhm. Yeah. So, wow. So, three So, four

girls in the same family rehearsing like

doing skits, doing comedy,

>> having rewrites.

>> Yeah. Really,

>> having rewrites. We had a little

wardrobe budget of $2.50. We go to

Salvation Army and, you know, or raid my

mom's closet. The whole thing was we did

the skit contest cuz we were like these

[ __ ] people in this town, [ __ ] her,

[ __ ] her. I mean, people who like were

bullies, you know, and we were like,

we're going to stick it to them. We're

going to win. The confidence once again,

the self-possession and just being and

everyone in Central Falls was there.

People were sitting on rocks,

>> you know, the newspaper was there, Amy,

and we won. Damn, that must have been so

exciting, Viola. I mean, it's going to

be hard for me to not

talk about how great you are this whole

time. To me, that story feels like when

a athlete realizes like, oh, I'm

naturally good at hitting a baseball or

something. You know,

>> you are

so good at what you do.

>> Well, I appreciate that. and the

naturalness of what you do combined with

your determination and skill. It's just

>> so I mean I wish I could have a time

machine and go back to that day and see

you performing because I can only

imagine that people pointed at you and

said wow.

>> Well, I don't know if anyone pointed at

me and said wow, but I pointed at myself

and I said wow.

>> And how do you go from there to

Giuliard? How do you You know what?

We'll never know.

>> You never know.

>> But what do you what do you audition

with to get into Giuliard?

>> I auditioned with Sely from Color

Purple.

>> Oh god. That was my dramatic. And then I

auditioned with a sort of comedy piece

from um God damn it, I'm forgetting. Oh

boy. But um it was a sort of French

comedy

>> like for like a forest kind of thing.

Uhhuh. Yeah.

>> I mean, when you were doing Shakespeare,

what do you have a way to memorize

Shakespeare or like how do you like to

memorize?

>> It's a process. So, you have to figure

out who you are, what you live for, all

that other stuff that nobody ever wants

to hear about, by the way. It's It's so

boring. It It really is. It's

>> I know what you mean. But what I what is

cool about it is I think that the skill

involved with the you know the the hard

work which is the theme I would say of

>> looking at your body of work and your

life is that you just have never shied

away from hard work. You've never run

away from it.

>> Thank you.

>> And memorizing is really hard.

>> Memorizing is but you know what

memorizing is the least difficult part

of acting. O I I think I these days

these days now lately it's so hard

>> now lately it's like I was like

>> you know when you have another actor

looking in your face and they're waiting

for the line now I'm big with this is

and then you know that someone is dro I

I did this with Merryill Street you know

in doubt she had a line I had a line or

whatever and then nothing

>> I'm looking in her face nothing she's

saying nothing I'm saying nothing

obviously someone dropped the line Yeah.

>> And then I realiz she's the one who

dropped the line.

>> Oh my god. Thank God

dropped the line. And so then we did it

three more times. Three more times that

scene. She kept dropping the line. And

in my brain I was like,

>> "Say the [ __ ] line."

>> Of course.

>> But I can't tell Merryill Street, you

forgot the line, Mel. You keep

forgetting the line. And finally we did

it. And she was like, "Why is does

something feel off?" And I said,

"Because you you keep forgetting the

line.

You forgot the line, Merrill."

>> And she's like, "I'm not perfect."

>> And then she No, she just said, "Well,

why didn't you say something?"

>> And you did say something. And but but

the the the the um Shakespeare itself

feels just like you really got to I

guess your point, you got to just keep

living in it. Living in it. Well, the h

the hint's the hardest thing about

Shakespeare too.

>> Please,

>> what the hell are you saying?

>> What the [ __ ] are you saying?

>> And and what are you saying? And and

also the amic pentameter and also

>> boy actors are going to kill me for

this,

>> but I went to Giuliard and you don't

want it to be boring.

>> Ex listen, they're not going to kill you

for that. Here's the thing about

Shakespeare. All it is is people acting

it and listening to it and going like

this. Mhm. Mhm. And I'm like, you don't

know what you're talking about and we

don't know what you're saying.

>> Well, well, well, well. Here's the

thing, too. And if you don't know what

they're saying, then they're not doing

it correctly. Exactly. See, but but you

can't say, you know what,

>> it's boring.

>> I know.

>> And Jiuliard, I would fall asleep a lot.

Oh my god. I have a friend who it would

piss her off. As soon as I was in the

class, we'd have the greatest actors,

greatest Shakespearean actors in the

world come to the school. within 5

minutes I would be dead sleep. I would

be knocked out with my lip hitting my

lap. I mean I would be knocked out. And

to this day she was like, "I can't even

believe you would do that. I can't

believe you would do that." And I said,

"Did you ever did it ever occur to you

that it just didn't excite me?"

>> Mhm.

>> But that's the thing with Shakespeare.

You just don't want it to be boring

because at the end of the day, here's

the thing. It's just about people. be

can be kings and

>> I mean it's a soap opera most of the

time those plays but is it I mean thank

you for saying that because the thing

about like art in general is if you

don't figure out how to find a way in

sometimes you feel really strange when

everybody else is in there and you're

like what is it where how come I can't

connect

>> yeah but Amy let me tell you something

we going down the road of talking by

acting like it's real deep people don't

see it. I see it as deep. You see it as

deep. Most people do not see it as deep

because once again, it's about mistaking

your presence for the event. It's about

>> That's right.

>> being I mean, my big thing are love

scenes. I can't stand love scenes. I

can't stand watching them. I can't stand

doing them. I'm like,

>> oo,

>> I finally said how to get away with

murder. I'm not doing any more love

scenes anymore. I mean, that's it. You

You write a love scene. I'm not doing

it. Unless you give me a boyfriend who

has a stomach.

>> Wait, say more.

>> A big gut.

>> Yeah.

>> And you know why?

>> Why?

>> Cuz you'll actually write the scene.

>> It won't be about taking off the shirt

and the six-pack abs. That's right.

>> I mean, I'm watching I did a scene with

Billy Brown, who I love all Billy Brown.

Love everyone.

>> And it's TV.

>> Yeah. So Annelise Keading is in bed.

Anelise Keading is sort of sleeps with a

lot of people, men, women, which cannot

be any opposite for me. I mean, I'm

like, "Oh my god."

>> So, and I'm in the bed. I'm laying down

and everything. And then he gets up with

his underwear and they I mean, they're

literally just taking his underwear

down, putting his makeup on, and he's

got his abs. And then they want him to

walk into the bathroom and come out

with, you know, one of those scrub

brushes and slap it on his hand as if

he's slapping my ass. So he's like,

"Slap, slap, slap." As we're saying the

dialogue,

>> I'm in the scene, Amy, and I'm like,

"You got to cut. You got to cut. Please

cut."

>> That is That's That's my nightmare.

That's a nightmare.

>> It's a freaking nightmare.

>> That's a nightmare. So I said, "If you

write someone with a gut, maybe we won't

be in bed. Maybe it'll be about

everything else. And then when we

finally kiss, it's like something that's

organically happening."

>> But right now, for me, a lot of love

scenes, it's like that's the time to go

to the bathroom.

>> If you want to pick up, go to the

bathroom. You come back. You haven't

missed anything.

>> Oh my god. I feel you. I feel you. the

couple I've not done many, but the

couple times it's been on the call

sheet, I'm like, "Oh no, this is my this

is the worst day." And any, by the way,

anybody that's like, "Oo, I got a love

scene today." Red flag.

I had to do a love scene with um

Tom Verica, who cannot be more lovely.

How to get away with murder. First love

scene. Well, actually, my first love

scene was with Billy Brown in the and it

got cut and I'm so happy it got cut

because we were having sex on my car in

in Philadelphia and it was 12°. I was

terrified.

>> First love scene of my life, but the

second love scene, Tom Verica, who plays

my husband, Hanukkah, murder. So, we're

getting prepared for the love scene in

the trailer and the makeup artists are

saying, "So, do you want anything to

cover?" I mean, I have stretch marks.

>> Yeah.

>> I mean, I got stretch marks everywhere.

I got stretch marks on my ass. I got

stretch marks on my arms. I got stretch

marks everywhere. I'm just going to say

it. We do.

>> And so, I'm like, "Yeah, I want makeup.

I want makeup on my arms. I want makeup

on my ass." And it's like,

>> "I got makeup on my ankles."

>> Mhm.

>> Okay. He's getting makeup on. I mean,

we're just basically spraying ourselves

with with makeup. Both of us terrified.

Okay. And then finally, I had the big

aha moment. I said, "Tom, this is what

we're going to do. We going to hold it

up for the regular people."

>> Yes.

>> We're going to hold it up for the people

out there who, you know, may have a

little bit of something sticking out

there, whatever. And there was makeup

all over the sheets,

makeup all over the bed, you know. You

know, thank God my wig didn't come off,

you know. And that was

>> there's nothing sexy about it. Nothing.

When you do a love scene, in my opinion,

there's nothing sexy about it. It's just

>> it's hard your search for the realness

in things, like the the the way you're

looking for the truth in things in your

own life and in your work. It it it

dovetales so beautifully with August

Wilson. Can you talk about your how you

felt about doing his work and like well

how important he is to you as a as a

writer?

>> Well, he's important because he writes

about black people. It's our cadences.

It's my mom, my dad, my father. It's how

we talked, you know, how I listen to

them, how I talked, you know, and um

that's the beauty of it because, you

know, otherwise, listen, I went to

Giuliard. We were doing George Bernard

Shaw at Stinberg, you know, check off

with who I love, you know, Shakespeare.

So, I did Blanch Dubois.

>> Yeah.

>> I mean, it was just a scene and but I

have to do if if you've ever read Blanch

Dubois, I could not be any different

than Blanch Dubois. She's extremely

fragile.

>> Yeah.

>> You know, fading beauty queen,

>> you know, all of those things. So to see

and to hear me, you know, take my deep

voice and try to will it down and sound

like a white southern woman and doing

all that, it was like, oh my, I can't do

this. I mean, it I shouldn't say I can't

do it. I can do it. I can transform. I

could do all of that. But then, you

know, people in the audience have got

to, you know, let me ignore the fact

that this is a deep voiced black woman

who is self-possessed and very grounded

and is not.

>> But with August Wilson,

>> I don't have to do any of that.

>> I still have to do the work,

>> but I could do a work in a way that

invites me in,

>> you know, and that's the beauty of

that's the beauty of August Wilson. And

you're nominated for a Tony 3 years

after you got out of school for that. I

mean, do you remember when you found out

you were nominated? That must have been

>> incredible feeling.

>> I found out I was nominated, you know,

back in the day. Back in the day when

you had those um um uh answering

machines that you had to call,

>> you had to call the answer machine. I

would call every single day to see if I

had an audition. So I called and my

agent at the time said, "Viola, you got

a Tony nomination.

Oh my god."

>> I ran to my parents' house.

>> They don't know what a Tony Award is.

>> And my little nieces and neph, they

don't know what the hell a Tony Award

is. I ran in the house. I said, "You

guys," my little nieces and nephews,

they were in their diapers running

around acting bad like I love bad kids.

Um, I ran in the house. And I said, "You

guys, I got a Tony nomination." And they

went, they started throwing themselves

on the floor. They didn't know what the

hell a Tony nomination was, but we all

just jumped. And I mean, come on.

>> Yeah. Amazing.

>> Come on.

You were a very accomplished working

actor on a lot of shows before a kind of

America at Large knew your name. You had

a a a really substantial body of work.

Do you feel like that allowed you, you

know, it was just like that 10,000 hours

idea that you worked really hard and

often and kind of figured out and you

worked in TV, you worked in film, you

worked on stage, you like got to like

feel confident in your skill.

>> Yes. But once again, that's the task.

>> Yeah. But it's not always everyone's

root.

>> No, I I understand.

>> Yeah.

>> And I understand that. And there in lies

the problem.

>> Yeah. with the business that anyone

feels like they can do it, you know, but

there was never a time when I was at the

Guthrie Theater or working in Newton,

Massachusetts. I worked in Newton,

Massachusetts. Um,

>> every I I've worked everywhere. I worked

with everyone. Huntington Theater, ACT,

Mark Taper Forum, Goodman Theater.

>> I thought I'd already made it.

>> Yeah,

>> I did. Yeah. Yeah, you know, making your

650 a week and then you did your 10

weeks and then you qualified for

unemployment. So, you got your

unemployment and sure you call in that

unemployment every Sunday, got that 350.

I think it went up to 3 $390 a week.

>> I thought I'd already made it cuz I

could say that I'm an actor, but you do

have to put in those hours in order to

have some level of a process. Because

here's what I think. What I um whenever

I do a job, this is my thing with

actors. It's a little bit of my pet

peeve a little bit. Is this if you have

a criticism

for a writer,

>> you never have it for another actor.

>> You don't criticize them. That's like a

no no.

>> Okay? I don't care if it's a day player.

You don't tell anyone how to act. That's

the director's job.

>> But I love it. If you have a criticism

of the work, if you say, you know, this

scene is not working, you have to tell

them why and you have to know how to fix

it.

I will say

once again, I'm a negotiating. I would

say 98% of the time people don't know

how to fix it.

>> Yeah, that's such a great point because

I've often said that actors should spend

a day being a writer getting notes from

actors. Because the way that people give

writers feedback is often appalling.

It's like this isn't and not just

actors, anybody, but like the way

writers receive feedback is like

dismissive. It's insulting. They don't

have a fix. Like your to your point,

something they've worked really really

hard on. They hand it over and people

just kind of like open it up and barely

pay attention to it. They barely read

it. They don't know the words. They

don't they don't they're like

challenging stuff before it's even tried

out. And then conversely, I always say

to writers,

>> now put on someone else's clothes.

>> That's right.

>> Mhm.

>> Go over there and uh uh scramble an egg.

>> Yep. Exactly.

>> While you remember

>> Yeah.

>> Two two pages of dialogue while everyone

you know is on the other side of the

room drinking coffee, looking at you.

>> Exactly.

>> And then we're even.

>> Yeah. Absolutely. Whenever you have to

fix a script, sometimes it's really not

that deep to fix something. It could be

a simple choice, but what happens is the

filter that goes through is okay. Is it

going to get more viewers? Are people

going to want to see? Is going to turn

on the 18 to 34 year old boys who come

see the movie. That's a big one, Amy.

>> Oh, yeah. I mean,

>> the boys.

>> The boy. And also, will men Yeah. Will

men care? Will men care about this

project? is like,

>> "Yeah, that was the woman king."

>> Oh, yeah. I I bet there was a lot of

discussion about like, "We want to make

sure men show up." And it's like, "Do we

>> do we want to make sure men SHOW UP LIKE

THESE DAYS?" ME, TOO. I've been like,

"Maybe they don't come to this one."

>> Yeah. Exactly.

>> How about we just make one? We just make

one for us. Just one.

>> I'm playing a a goji warrior. I've just

chopped off five men's heads in the

first two minutes. So, and maybe it's

just not for them. I mean, it's it's

like it's like a lot of the uh the notes

were, you know, um less dirt and more

lipstick.

>> Are you freaking kidding me?

>> Wild.

>> Are you kidding me?

>> Wild.

>> I'm playing an a gogi warrior and I'm

thinking about lipstick

and eyelash extensions.

>> That film, you are so badass in that

film. That film is so beautiful. I loved

it. You and your husband produced it

together, generated it, made it for

yourself. Such an example of like taking

the currency that you had

>> and using it and making that project.

And the thing I wanted to ask you about

Woman King, the woman king

>> is and for people that don't know, it's,

you know, based on a real story for

people that don't know about uh could

you explain what it was based on? It's

based on the Aogia uh uh tribe or

warriors in Dome in Benin, West Africa

in like 1854 and they were all female

army unit that would go out and fight

neighboring tribes and you know Euroba

tribes. Now you know the controversy is

is there was a lot of controversy you

know involved with the Algoia warriors

because they would have slaves.

>> Okay. I think ultimately that is what

maybe people had problems with. And the

other problem is, you know, it was an

all black cast, mostly female cast,

>> mostly without getting into it cuz there

will never be enough time in the world.

Dark-kinned females

>> who have muscles and who are taking men

down. I mean, I trained for 5 hours a

day and I was the oldest mother freaking

warrior in the movie.

So, we trained 5 hours a day for months,

handtohand combat. I have to tell you

though, with that movie, without getting

too much into it, cuz there's a lot

about that movie.

>> Yeah.

>> That was like very important to me.

>> Yeah.

>> I didn't think it was a big deal for

women to be warriors,

>> right?

>> I didn't think that it was a big deal to

have a title like the woman king.

>> Mhm. Because first of all, there's a lot

of kings who are women in Africa.

They're actually called kings.

I didn't know that that was going to be

a controversy

until we did it.

>> I thought this is badass. I mean, I

would take my toy machete home to

practice with my husband. I mean, not

around my husband cuz he would say, "Oh,

V, this is a lot." But but um but I just

didn't know it was a big deal until we

started shooting it and there was, you

know, can we make your curls looser and

more pretty?

>> Mhm.

>> Could we do eyelash extensions?

>> Mhm.

>> Maybe a different title.

>> Mhm.

>> You know, this whole sort of watering

down

like just don't forget to stay soft.

>> Yeah. Like while you're the hardest

warrior ever, don't forget to be a

little bit cute and soft because God

forbid you just step into your full

power.

>> Absolutely. And God forbid that you

don't turn me on.

>> That's right.

>> That you don't look sexy.

>> That's right.

>> And you know, it it it it sort of leads

into the whole thing of the value of

beauty,

>> you know.

>> That's right. I mean, I'm definitely

like at 60 years old, I feel fabulous

because I am one of those women. I got

that done and over with very very early

in life.

>> You know, I feel for the the beautiful

women who were younger and now they're

older and they walk in the room and no

one's looking at them.

>> Yeah. That's tough when be your beauty

is your number one currency because it

goes away fast.

>> Exactly.

>> It's really fickle. And but I will say

and you spoke about this when you were

doing the woman king like the way in

which you created this new relationship

to your body

>> in your 50s. I think a lot of women I

know a lot of women I know I speak for

myself you start to really take you

really kind of look and you say okay

this is my one body I really you know

the the ways in which I got to kind of

>> put it in the on the back burner in my

20s and 30s I really have to pay

attention to it now. And I've joked on

here like we got to eat 85 grams of

protein and we have to lift weights. But

you did that. You What What did you

learn about yourself when you were

training 5 hours a day? And

>> you know what, Amy? It was the first

time I could walk into a room with that

um um it it was a leather sort of shirt

I had on, armor that I had on, and so my

stomach was exposed. It was the first

time I can walk on the field and in a

room and totally be in my body.

>> You know, there there is something about

the female body, what you're sort of um

conditioned to believe about it, that

it's got to be beautiful, right? So,

it's got to be thin and beautiful.

>> And the why and the how it has to be

beautiful is always tied to male

desiraability.

>> That's right. It's never tied to being

capable.

>> It's tied to a shrinking.

>> Yeah. Like that.

>> Exactly. Shrinking and not being

capable, not being strong, not being,

you know,

>> it's never ours.

>> Yeah.

>> And so even in the practicing

I was going to lie a little bit.

I was going to lie a little bit.

>> I hope it was a little tiring. Like I

hope this is what the lie was. Okay.

>> This is what the lie was, Amy. cuz

>> Okay. Q music for negotiating

>> Q uh you know hit them up like Tupac.

>> I was going to say, you know, if you

know just to in in the in the practicing

cuz we would do an hour of

weightlifting, 30 minutes of running on

the treadmill at 10.0.

>> Oh no. I've done 10.0. That is a

disaster.

>> It's it and it was a disaster. 30

minutes straight of 10.0 like was it

sprints or

>> sprints?

>> God damn it.

>> And then three and a half hours. I mean

by the end I mean and you saw all these

young girls they'd have a little sweat

on their bodies. I would sweat out three

four shirts a day. So I would go to coro

for three and a half hours and you're

taking down

eight seven dudes at the same time.

Okay. Eight seven dudes. What I was

going to say is, you know, it was it was

so great because then I could really tap

into the part of me that I never tapped

into before. That's [ __ ]

>> I was always that girl that wanted to

kick someone's ass and probably did a

couple of times, but it gave me

permission to do it.

>> Yes.

>> And I mean I'm there was one guy the

huge 64

260.

I mean, come on. That's exciting.

>> And to make and and I felt like I could

do it.

>> Yeah. Yeah.

>> Now whether I could do it or not in real

life, who knows? But the feeling like I

could.

>> You have stood toe-to-toe with such

amazing actors. Denzel, you talked about

Merrill. You worked with Chadwick. When

you're in that zone with people that

good and you're like, what is it? I

guess I guess I'm like I'm asking you

like what's it like to be in the World

Series?

>> Exactly. and and not piss in your pants.

>> Um well, with Merrill, that was it.

>> Yeah. I mean, she's the best. She's so

great and funny

>> and funny and cool

>> and cool. It's like you could be that

great and that cool.

>> Well, you're like that, too. That's why

you guys are so good. Cuz you're

>> you're so good that you don't have to be

[ __ ] because you know how good you

are.

>> And you know there's [ __ ] out there.

>> Yes. because they're not that good,

>> you know, or I should say they're not

being led by insecurity. So you you and

Maril meet, of course you guys are

friends and like respect each other cuz

you're both so but I followed her

everywhere

>> on set.

>> On set I mean to the point where it was

like you know when you say to yourself,

okay, tomorrow I'm not going to do that

because I don't think it made her

>> it didn't make her feel comfortable. Cuz

at one point she would never admit this.

She probably doesn't remember it, but

she was going to set and I was trying to

keep her from going to set

>> cuz I was too excited. So I was like,

"So, how's it going?" She was like, "Oh,

good. So, I'll see you later." She was

going up the stairs and then I was like,

"So, so it's going good, right?"

>> So, so the day was really good and you

could, you know, when someone's trying

to do something and you're stopping them

from doing it and they don't feel like

they don't want to be rude to you by

going, "Shut the [ __ ] up. I got to get

to set." So she was being really nice

and I said, "Okay, so I'll see you

later, right?" So I work next week. So I

work next week and you know, she was

like, "Yeah, yeah." So that was the

first day and then I was like, "I'm not

going to do that tomorrow." So I'm not

going to do that tomorrow. I went back

tomorrow.

>> Oh yeah. I mean,

>> and we're SAT WE'RE SITTING THERE and

then I'm staring at her

>> and I'm really shy.

>> She's not that shy. She's sort of shy,

but not that shy. So then I don't

because I'm I'm not good with small

talk.

>> Mhm.

>> And I go longest pause and then I said,

"Um, can I get you some tea?"

And she said, she said, "No, baby. No,

you don't have to get me any tea." And I

was like, "Okay."

So I couldn't think of anything else. I

kept staring, staring, and you could

tell, you know, when you stare, you

could tell she was really trying to be

gracious. And the only thing I could

come up with, I was like, "You got

beautiful skin."

I know.

>> I actually said that to Meryill Street.

>> I love you.

>> And then finally my husband who was

like, "B, did you tell that woman that

you love her work? YOU DIDN'T TELL THAT

WOMAN YOU LOVE HER WORK?" I SAID, "WELL,

JULIUS, I just she's when I get to that

damn set, I'm going to tell her that I

love her work and I'm going to tell her

that that she is your favorite actress."

I said, "Don't say that."

>> And Julius finally came to the set and

he said, "Viola loves you so much and

you are so beautiful, Merrill. You are

such a wonderful actress." She blushed.

She was like, "Oh, Julius."

>> Well, I have met Julius and Julius is

something else.

Do you find I mean I know I I find that

sometimes in my life people want me to

be funny and they're a little

disappointed when I'm not quite bringing

it.

>> Do you feel conversely that sometimes

people assume that you're going to like

exchange in something very deep and

serious with them and you just want to

laugh

>> all the time?

>> Because I feel like what I'm learning

about you is that you're you love you

love to joke around and laugh. Oh, but I

mean I can't really even joke around

like I want cuz I'm

>> dirty with it.

>> Fantastic. Why can't you do that?

>> Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no. You don't want to go down like

that Amy.

>> No, you don't want to go down. I'm dirty

with it.

>> Who did you love grow? Like, who were

your

>> Oh, the first one.

>> Who did you love?

>> Mom's Maple.

>> Oh, yeah.

>> And she was dirty dirty.

>> So dirty.

>> I would play that album over and over

again. Flip Wilson over and over again.

Red Fox.

>> Red Fox over and over. And the dirtier

the better.

>> Yeah.

>> We can't go there.

>> Yeah. So funny.

>> Yeah. Yeah.

>> So, you would play those records when

you were

>> Oh, I would.

>> Yeah.

>> And you know why too? Because they told

stories.

>> Mhm.

>> And come on, the original dirty of the

dirtiest of the funniest is Richard

Prior. Yeah. Whenever I feel down, I

play that live in concert

>> over and over and over again. Oh my god,

that's just the best. And he talks about

his kids one part where he talks about

his kids and how he doesn't know how to

swim. And every time he gets into the

pool, he's drowning. He's basically

drowning. And his KIDS ARE LIKE, "AH,

DADDY, YOU'RE SO FUNNY." And he's like,

"You [ __ ] I'm drowning." You

know, it's like I love that, you know.

>> Yeah. Okay. Now, I want to get to your

book before we finish because, you know,

your relationship to writing is an

interesting one to me. I mean, I'm sure

you have, you know, we talked about it

earlier, this idea of like when you're

acting and you're writing and you're

working with writers and what that kind

of writing looks like. And then there's

the different kind of version of writing

when you're writing a book, when you're

writing fiction. Um, and when you're

writing a memoir, which your memoir was

a huge hit, you won the Grammy. Uh that

was your EGOT was your um when you did

the recording of it when you read your

book on tape and that book came out a

while ago and I'm curious you know when

we write about our stories and then they

go out into the world and everybody gets

to kind of

>> um read them and process them. Have you

ever heard from anyone from your past

after that book came out?

>> I hear from various ones all the time.

my fourth grade teacher in fourth grade.

I I have the story in my book. That was

and I actually went back to my fourth

grade class too, the actual classroom,

>> but my fourth grade that was almost the

height of my dysfunction, my

dysfunctional life.

>> But in the book, um

it still has a lot of shame for me.

>> Um I would go to school, I would smell

so bad.

I mean, there were no words for it,

okay? And this teacher that I had that I

loved. I loved her, Mrs. Cody. She sent

pictures to my sister who was a school.

She was a school teacher in Central

Falls. She sent all these pictures that

she had saved of me.

>> Wow.

>> I have no pictures of my childhood. She

saved these pictures and she saved some

of my writings.

>> Wow. And in one of the pictures,

I was at a museum looking at this

sculpture and all the kids were behind

me who were in my class. But I was

looking at the sculpture and my mouth

was gapped open in awe.

And I thought to myself, you captured

something in me that I didn't know I had

in me. M

>> was already that when something was

beautiful, when something was created

that had

>> that I would have no connection to

otherwise, I saw it.

>> That was in one of the pictures.

And she told my sister that she never

forgot me as a student. And she was the

one who actually told me that I needed

to go to the nurse one day because I

smelled so bad.

>> That my mom had to get some soap and hot

water and you need to wash yourself cuz

the odor is too much.

>> She was a teacher who told me that

>> and I loved her. That's why it hurt so

bad.

>> Yeah.

>> See, once again, the paradox, right, the

paradox looking out for you,

>> but of feeling shamed. She's the one who

I felt shamed me. She didn't really

shame me.

>> Yeah. Do you know what I'm saying? But

that was a big one.

>> I mean, it feels like writing has been

something that's that's been a big thing

that you've wanted to do for a long

time. And then you write you're now

co-written a book with James Patterson.

It's on my shelf.

>> It's right here.

>> Judge Stone.

>> Judge Stone book is out.

>> Yeah.

>> What is What is it about?

>> It is about a 13-year-old girl named

Nova who has an abortion. who gets raped

and has an abortion in um Union Springs,

Alabama. Alabama has the strictest

abortion laws and the doctor who

performs the abortion is now on trial

for murder. So, it is definitely to kill

a mockingb bird. It is just it's

pulsating. It's all of those things. But

you know even like to kill a mockingb

bird which you know the courtroom was

pulsating you know Tom Robinson Mayella

Yuo it was just just heartstoppping

right but the characters within it

>> were just as memorable as the trial.

That's what I feel about uh you know

Judge Stone and James Patterson is like

>> you can do anything and

>> no I can't I can't you know

>> tell us what you can't do. Oh, I can't

bake.

>> Okay.

>> You know,

>> you could probably learn.

>> I have a 15year-old at home. It's like

it's Trust me. And you're probably out

of the teen years.

>> No, I'm right in the middle of it. I got

a 15 and a 17-y old.

>> Oh, I have a 15-year-old.

>> Yeah. There's no easier way to feel

uncool than when your kid, your teen kid

looks at you like, "What?

>> I'm not cool."

>> No. But you're not supposed to be cool

to your kid. If you're cool to your kid,

that's weird.

>> I know. I think so. It's like I'm not

>> Nobody wants to be the parent that like

hangs with their kids and like their

kids are like, "Wow, your mom is so

cool." Like,

>> I don't want to go to an escape room.

>> No,

>> you don't have to. You don't have to.

>> I tried to. That's why I jumped out of a

plane. I tell people I jumped out of a

plane.

Aahu, um, Hawaii. I jumped out of a

plane to be cool for my daughter. I did.

Amy,

>> what year was this? Just recently,

>> I was 57. 56. 56. 57. So, I'm 60 now.

Yeah.

>> What did you um think of jump What What

was it like? Did you Was it awful? Seems

awful. It seems It truly seems like

awful.

>> Have you ever So, obviously jumping out

of a plane.

>> I jumped out of a plane because we had

the most awesome nanny. When I say

awesome, it's like everyone else's great

nanny and ours was like God. Okay.

>> She jumped out of the plane.

>> You know, you're you're jumping in

tandem with someone who's talking like

>> I was going to say you're jumping in

tandem with someone you met like

yesterday.

>> Yesterday. And he was like, "So, B, you

know, you're a great actress. So, what

do you like better, theater or film?"

And I would say, "Shut the [ __ ] up."

Like focus Zack.

My favorite movie is the parachute

working

>> and look at that's yummy mommy volcano

right there and that erupted in I don't

[ __ ] want to get out of the volcano

and then they roll the curtain up and

they say okay

>> so let's go

>> that's cool I mean Violet that's badass

that you did that

>> I will never do it again although

although it was a terrific experience I

told my daughter as I was uh falling

down cuz she said, "Mama, if you die,

can I have your wigs and your money?"

So, I'm falling down.

So, I'm falling down. I'm falling down.

And I told her, "Don't listen to mama.

Don't listen to me." I think every cuss

word that I could possibly imagine. I

mean, it was coming out of my mouth. You

have no idea.

>> But I did it because of Molly.

>> I did it because of Molly. And you and

Julius, we talked about your husband a

little bit.

>> You guys have like when you do stuff

together and you um talk publicly

together, you laugh a lot. You laugh a

lot and you laugh,

>> Amy.

>> You have fun. I mean, look, your your

relationship is very aspirational. And I

don't want to project upon it cuz I I I

know everyone's relationship is their

own private

>> you know a relationship is like a

country with its own set of rules and

you don't really know it unless you live

there

>> but what it seems like is you have the

best relationship ever and you have a

wonderful marriage and beautiful loving

partner.

>> It's fantastic. It drives me crazy. I

drive him crazy. I want to hit him but

then I the love of my life.

>> Yeah.

>> You know he's just the love of my life

you know. And when I say laugh,

>> no Amy, I mean just he is a character

and every time he comes up and you know

in public, you know, he puts, you know,

the brave, the mask and everything on,

but the guy is absolutely hysterical. I

mean,

>> and and does the oddest things that for

me I'm there's a little bit of me that

says, "Is he crazy?"

He could be crazy. I mean, he lost his

salt. He couldn't find his saltine

crackers one day.

>> That's impressive.

>> Saltine damn crackers. Yeah. And he was

convinced that someone broke into our

house, was living in our attic, and had

stolen his saltine crackers.

And so I was like,

why are you walking around the house

with a baseball bat? B, there's so I

can't find my saltine crackers. B.

I said, "Well, did you look in the

cabinet behind the tuna fish?" Yeah. And

and there there was four packages, V.

Now there's only three packages left. V.

There's someone in that attic. And

here's for me what for me is about love.

I was like, "Oh my god. I He's crazy.

There's someone living in the attic."

And what did I do? I grabbed my baseball

bat, too. And we looked for the person

together in the attic until I finally

found the saltine crackers there, the

tuna fish.

>> And it's just like I love it. I do.

>> I mean, your love is very,

>> you know, and then talking about his mom

and just the stories. He's another one

that could tell. Well, we tal we talked

to him before your interview and I want

you to know he's the only spouse we've

talked to

>> uh in the you know we we do a thing

where we kind of talk well behind

somebody's back before they come in and

I get a question to ask our guest and

Julius was the only spouse we wanted to

talk to because we were like first of

all they seem like they really like each

other. Um um and but he he he spoke so

beautifully of course about you Viola,

but he also speaks to a bigger idea of

what women a lot of women yearn for and

hope for which is that somebody really

sees them like somebody sees them in

real time and celebrates their wins.

>> Oh yeah.

>> He does.

>> He does. You seem like you do that for

each other.

>> Oh yeah, totally. And again, a simple

thing to say, but but sometimes hard to

find like that. Do you think that is the

secret to why you have been together so

long is the way you do that for each

other?

>> You know, by the time I met Julius, I

absolutely understood what love is.

>> You know, first of all, I thought he was

cute. You know, I thought he had a tight

ass. I'm not going to lie to you, Amy.

>> Yeah. Don't

>> Yeah, he had a tight ass. He was a

football player.

>> You guys were actors on a set. He was

handing you blood. You were in a hot

nurse's outfit.

>> Yeah.

>> And I was like, he's really cute. And I

was really lonely.

>> And um

>> so that was it, of course. I mean, I

just with him it was. And I prayed for a

football player type dude, you know, and

it was him.

>> Yeah. And um but you know what got me

with him is he told me his story

>> cuz he's a talker but he told me his

whole story from the giddy up.

>> Cool.

>> Everything good and bad.

>> Straight no chaser.

>> You know he raised his kids on his own.

He's been married. You know all of those

things. It just and for me it opened me

up.

>> He's just a dude. He's he's been wired

right. He he has

>> well he has

three really weird questions for me to

ask you.

I know he's great in every way but I

don't understand these questions.

>> Julius one of them is tell ask her about

Zouri.

Who is Zouri? And can I Google it?

Because Julius was talking about a TV

show that he grew up with. I've never

heard of.

>> Power XL5.

>> What? Oh no. Amy.

>> Zouri.

>> Amy. It's a cartoon with puppets that he

watched when he was a kid.

>> Wow.

>> Zi. Do you see Zony?

>> Hold on. Z U N I.

>> Okay.

>> You see Z now

>> with the giant head.

>> Yeah. You see that?

>> Let's see. Let's see. Let's see.

>> And you did you pressed in the images of

it.

>> Let's see. Images. See where Zouri?

>> Okay. Zouri. Z O O N I.

>> Oh, Z O N I. That's why I a classic

spelling something wrong

>> for you listeners. Zouri looks like

>> Z who Zouri look No, I'm going to tell

you who Zouri look like.

>> We were laying in bed and Julia said,

"V, you know who you look like was soon

as I met you, I was like, she make me

feel all warm and fuzzy inside. She

remind me of somebody I know." And then

I thought about it. Zouri, you look like

Zouri. That's who you are. V. Zoney. And

that's the This is the show that he

would watch every Saturday. He was the

only one in his family who wanted to

watch it.

>> I can't believe the show. It looks like

it's Dolls and Puppets.

>> Dolls and Puppets. And he was the only

one who wanted to watch it. None of his

brothers and sisters wanted to watch it.

They say, "Mom, uh, Julius, he want to

watch. We don't want to watch Zoney."

And his mom would say, "LET THAT LET

THAT DAMN BOY WATCH YOUR ZONEY. THAT'S

ALL YOU TALK ABOUT, LELY. Is Zooni.

Zoney Zoney. DAMN ZONEY. WATCH THAT damn

Zoney and get your ass out of the house

after you watch that Zonyi. So Zouri, I

remind him of Zonyi. Big lips and big

eyes.

>> It's like almost like a little ferret

meets a sloth meets a

>> Amy. No, Amy.

>> It's cute though. Zi messed up. No,

Zoney is messed up.

>> I call him Ferdinand cuz he looks

exactly like Ferdinand. We we name Yeah,

we name people. You look just like

Ferdinand.

Okay. The other question he wanted me to

ask you is ask her about um Shadow of a

Gunman.

>> He said he's setting you up for some

stories.

>> Oh, he's setting me up. It was one of

our first dates. He said, "V, you want

to come?" If you if you know him, you

would know that this is a great

imitation of Julius V, one of my friends

is doing Shadow of a Gunman. You know

that play? You know that Irish play

Seaun O Casey Shadow of a Gunman in some

small theater off Abbott Kenny Boulevard

in Santa Monica. So we go to see Shadow

of a Gunman. And I'm walking in going,

"Oh, we're going to go see some

theater." And so we go to this theater.

We walk in and I'm like, "Okay, let's

sit in the front." 99 seats. No, no

one's at the theater. So I'm said,

"Let's let's sit in the front." He was

like, "Uh-uh. We ain't sitting in the

damn front. Let's sit all the way in the

back. Let's sit up there IN THE BACK." I

was like, "But Julius, we're all the way

in the back." He said, "V, let's sit up

in the back." We sit up in the back.

He's got the chair near the wall. As

soon as the curtains go up, he's dead

asleep. The only reason why he wanted to

sit in the wall is to take a nap all

throughout the play. And the only time

he woke up is when he thought some sex

scene was going to happen. He woke up

for two seconds. He woke up for two

seconds thinking he was going to see

some good goodus, as we call it, and

nothing happened. It was the worst

production in the world. And oh my god.

And then afterwards he went up to his

friend and he said, "I love that

performance.

>> You were f and you know when you did

that thing that thing you did?" I was

like, "Julius, you slept through that

whole damn performance."

>> Well, are you guys watching, listening?

Are you Are you What What's making you

laugh these days? Where do you get your

comedy?

>> In bed. Yes. With each other. With each

other. It sounds like

>> Oh my god. With his imitations.

I mean, no. Amy, like I mean just

absolutely hysterical.

>> Yeah. It's so

>> I'm telling you,

>> it's so fun to hear how you guys like to

play.

>> Oh, yeah.

>> Like it's like it really feels like

there's like young versions of you, like

healed young versions of you.

>> I mean,

>> together.

This morning we were just talking when I

first when we first got together and

they wanted me to do the play that I won

my first uh Tony Award for King Hadley.

>> Yeah.

>> But I remember when I was offered the

role

>> and I said I don't know if that role is

good enough for me. Julius, first of

all, can I just tell you I never talk

like this. So the fact that I remember

talking like this shows you that I'm

full of [ __ ]

>> So I said, Julius, that role is not good

enough for me. and he's sitting in the

living room. He's just listening to me.

He just got out of the shower. I said,

"This role is not good enough for me."

And you know, they think I'm going to go

to New York and they think I'm going to

do A, B, and C, and they think I'm going

to do that role. I need the lead role. I

need to get the lead role and blah blah

blah blah blah. And he's listening,

listening, listening. And then there's a

pause. And I said, "So, what do you

think, Julius?" He said, "This what I

think, V. You need to take your ass to

New York and you need to do that damn

play because here's the thing. you ain't

got no damn job and we ain't and we and

we not bringing in any damn money. So,

you need to go on and take your ass to

to New York and do that play. And we

talk about that all the time.

>> You know, those moments,

>> you know, of when I told him for the

first time that I had the most horrific

credit.

>> Yeah.

>> And I was about to cry. I said my credit

score was 500. And I kept that as a

secret because he was so organized and

together and responsible,

>> you know. And I said, "Julius,

>> I have to tell you something." He said,

"Okay, V, go ahead. Tell me."

>> I said, "Julius,

I have bad credit."

And he said, "I knew your black ass had

bad credit from the moment I met you. I

could tell by the way you dressed and

everything, you were all over the damn

place. That's okay. I know you starting

to cry. Come over here. We use my

credit. Don't worry about it. I knew

your black ass had bad credit

>> and that was it. Like moments like that

of levity, but also

>> levity

>> levity of

>> safety.

>> Safety of connection of

>> you know the the freedom that I had to

tell him I had bad credit, but but also

how he helped me build from there. Yeah,

>> that's the thing.

>> Yeah,

>> that was my big thing. I finally found

it.

Someone who makes your life better.

>> That's love.

>> I think so.

>> Yeah. That's a that's that's what a

healthy relationship looks like. And a

tight ass and a

>> to end our convo today. What's the best

thing about being in your 60s? It's the

next decade up for me. And I mean, I've

been loving my 50s more than my 40s and

more and more and more. What what what

what's what are you loving about your

60s?

in your 60s, your life is yours.

>> That's the best part of it. Your life is

yours. You realize that, you know, it's

it's a quote that it's it's been running

through my mind is I know it's sort of

morbid, but on your last day on earth,

the definition of hell is your last day

on earth, who you became

meets the person you could have become.

I feel that that's 60s, man.

>> The 60s is I'm going to become that

woman

>> because all that [ __ ] that I was

told in the past that, you know, I had

to make a certain amount of money or to

be smart enough or pretty enough or thin

enough or whatever, none of that sh

means [ __ ]

>> Yeah.

>> My life right now is about who I love,

who loves me, and what I leave behind.

That's it. It is clean.

>> And it's given me a certain level of

bravery too.

>> Now, if I could put some hormones in

there, that would be beautiful.

>> That's amazing. I It makes me really

look forward to what's ahead.

>> Yeah. Well, yeah. It's the other stuff,

too. But we won't talk about

>> We don't want to talk about that. Yeah.

We We're just We'll get We'll deal with

that when it comes. Yeah. Biola Davis, I

it means so much that you did this.

Thank you. I mean, thank you for being

here today and for talking to me and for

doing the show. It's I just

>> absolutely adore you and your work.

>> Well, I love you, too.

>> And I'd love to move in with you and

your husband. It won't be weird. I'll

just be a roommate. Um,

>> but don't go into the attic and don't

eat the saltine crackers because you may

get the baseball bat on your head. Don't

steal the crackers in your attic. And

I'm sorry I steal your husband's

saltines, but I get hungry up there, but

I want to listen to the two of you.

>> Um, thank you so much for coming. It

really means a lot.

>> Thank you, Amy.

>> Thank you so much, Viola. Um, you're

incredible and so good at what you do

and it was so wonderful to talk to you.

Thank you for for uh stopping by for

this Polar Plunge. Um, one person we

didn't get a chance to talk to Viola

about that I know she highly rever and

was deeply influenced by was the actress

Sicily Tyson. And so I just wanted to

say her name here because I know Viola

has spoken about her and got to work

with her on many projects including in

in How to Get Away with Murder. But do

yourself a favor. Um and um uh if you

haven't seen Sicily Tyson's work um it

spans an incredible

amount of time in in American history.

She lived to 96 and um many of us got to

know her when she um played um

Kaikinte's mother in Roots. Um but

Sicily at that point had been working on

on the stage for a very long time and

she's just been in an incredible wide

variety of television and movies and is

a really terrific actress and was one of

uh one of our Hollywood legends. So, um,

check her stuff out, I guess. Plunge

into Sicily Tyson and her work. And

Biola Davis, uh, we we love you. We

can't wait to see what you're doing

next. So, thanks so much for joining us

and see you soon. Bye.

You've been listening to Good Hang. The

executive producers for this show are

Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss Berman, and

me, Amy Polar. The show is produced by

The Ringer and Paperkite. For the

Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Cat

Spalain, Kaia McMullen, and Alia

Xanerys. For Paperkite, production by

Sam Green, Joel Levelvel, and Jenna

Weiss Berman. Original music by Amy

Miles.

really good. Hey