Viola Davis recently opened up about how her life changed after her recent birthday.
While conversing with PEOPLE magazine, the 61-year-old American actress and film producer, who turned 61 on August 11, 1965, reflected on the change she has been feeling since she achieved a milestone in her life.
Articulating her thoughts, Davis said, “I think that when I was younger, I was so afraid of failure. I was so terrified that failure would define me. No it doesn’t. It doesn’t define me and it also does not challenge my worth.”
“Who I am is really shaped by my family, my background. I wasn’t an MTV girl. We didn’t have cable TV because I was poor. We didn’t have a telephone. What shaped me is, actually, sometimes, bad memories and bad experiences. Knowing that they were there, but they were not there to cripple me – they were there to challenge what I already had inside me,” she explained.
The Suicide Squad star now observes drastic changes in her personality, especially since she sees herself as “brave,” an important personality trait that was missing in her.
“I had the ability to survive the hard stuff. I can do the hard stuff. It doesn’t matter if people think that I’m beautiful. It doesn’t matter if people feel like Viola, at 61, you can’t do an action movie, you can’t do a love scene, you can’t do A, B and C.’ My ability to overcome and to challenge and to believe in my ability is mine,” she stated.
It is pertinent to mention that Viola Davis, the EGOT recipient, is among Halle Berry, Drew Barrymore, and Penelope Cruz, who featured on the cover of AARP’s Movies for Grownups‘ 25 Most Fabulous Gen X Actresses issue, which was unveiled on Thursday, September 10.

