Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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 growing up in Rhode Island and Boston and how we get rid of those accents. We talk about our mutual best friend, Meryl 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 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.
Chapter 2: What does Viola Davis say about her childhood experiences?
Julius Tenen, 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 so far, and the expectation is high. So I cannot wait to talk to Julius. Julius, thank you for joining us. Hi. Hi. This episode of Good Hang is presented by Subaru. Some cars go the extra mile.
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Actual mileage and range may vary. Hello, Julius. Can you hear me? I can. Hey, Amy. Hi. It's such a pleasure to meet you. It's a pleasure to meet you, too. And I just want to say quickly that we love you. And you're always amazing and funny as hell and all that stuff. So, so nice to meet you. Julius, thank you so much. You're welcome. 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 can tell that about you. I think you say what you mean. You and Viola. Yes. Yes, we do. Thank you for that.
Chapter 3: How did Viola Davis and Julius Tennon meet?
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 for them. And we just talk well behind their back. And I want you to know you are the first spouse ever. That we have spoken to among all of our guests. 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 getting ready to do. But can I start by just asking you... 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. She was Nurse Lynette Peeler. And I was passing blood to her. And I was 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 him my card and I had my shirt on.
The story is, if my shirt had been off, she would have never called me. But I had my shirt on and I gave him my card and I said, hey, if you 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.
And then she invited me to a cast thing for the main cast because I was recurring on the show. And 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. And she kind of fit in those, you know, she fit in those things pretty good. And I was like, hmm, okay, let me give this girl my card. Yeah.
I mean, what's so sweet about hearing the two of you talk about each other is you both met each other when you were coming up. Yeah, absolutely. What's it like to be, you know, two young actors 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 OK. I got good credit.
You know, but it's one of those tough things. But, you know, Amy, it's about supporting one another. You support one, the other one supports the other equally. 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 it just so happened that Viola's career just really started to take off.
And it's been a beautiful thing. And I'm glad to be a part of it. People say, how do you handle it? How do you do what you do? Whatever. I said, because I know who I am. 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.
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Chapter 4: What challenges did Viola face as a young actress?
I call her Zuni. And the reason I do, because I love Zuni so much and I love Viola. So that is so endearing to me. So when I'm calling her Zuni, it's not because of what Zuni looks like. It's because I love the hell out of Zuni. Okay, but I'm going to have to Google Zuni and see what Zuni is. Yeah, you got to Google them real quick and you'll see. Fireball XL5. Okay. And you'll see Zuni.
but I love Zuni. So ask her about Zuni. Okay. Other thing is ask her about our first theatrical experience, Shadow of a Gunman. Just say, you and Julius went to a play, the Shadow of a Gunman thing. What is, what is that? Give us, let us know. She'll tell you. It's kind of a funny story. You know, 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 oftentimes 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, how the hell you do that, Viola? you know, like, yeah, I'm like, why are you doing that? Okay.
Well, she was going to people like 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've 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 it's such a pleasure. Thanks again. You too. Okay. Take care. Bye. Bye. All right, listen up. Ralph's, King Soopers, Harris Teeter, Food for Less, Kroger, and more are now on Uber Eats, and you get 40% off your order of $30 or more.
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Orders of $30 or more save up to $25. Ends May 31st, 2026. See app for details. Viola Davis is here. I'm so, so happy that you're here. Thank you. I'm happy to be here. I've been, like, not working for the longest time. Congrats. So I feel like it's, I feel like I'm coming out of hibernation. Yeah. And I'm like, holy shit, 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, so let's get real. I mean, that, we're very. There's not a lot of us. No, there's like 18, 19. Uh-huh. 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. So cool.
I didn't think about it. It wasn't like that sort of thing for me. That's so cool. I mean, it's just, it is. And 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. On my gravestone, it's going to be that I interviewed you.
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Chapter 5: How does Viola Davis feel about her career trajectory?
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 chutzpah. Yes. You have that self-possession, right? Yes. That's what I want with my kid.
I was so much of a good girl, you know, with shitty boyfriends who made me feel like shit. And I was just still like worshiping at their feet. So, yeah, I like attitude. Yeah. Do you think that's an East Coast thing? Because we're both East Coast. I grew up in Boston. You're Rhode Island. Oh, you weren't born there, but you spent most of your time in Rhode Island. OK, Boston. Yeah.
And what's the difference between Boston and Rhode Island? Nothing. You still say Florida. You know, you park the car and your father and your father and your mother. Oh, my God. I eat grinders and cabinets. OK, that's different from the bubbler. Oh, yeah. Bubbler. Yes. The first time I said bubbler was at Cal Poly Pomona. Which is a water fountain anywhere else.
And I said, you know where the bubbler is? And Guy literally, he stood there for the longest time. He was like... What the fuck 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 was wicked good.
I mean, my parents, 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? Yeah. Just one word. There's a part of growing up on the East Coast that gives you a directness that 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, 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. Yeah. Oh my God, I love the sound of your negotiation.
We should put some music over it when you're thinking on what to say. Yeah, Tupac. You can put Tupac music on. But I just remember visiting someone at one point and I took a bus and I got off the bus and I told my friend, well, make sure the person who's coming to pick me up, they know who I am. Okay. Okay.
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Chapter 6: What insights does Viola share about her marriage?
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. You know, but the thing with where you're talking about plain spoken thing about black people, they call it as it is. That's right. You know, that black girl who come out 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 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 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'll get thrown out if you still have an accent at Juilliard 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, you know, at Juilliard, when you speak too, 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 gotten to play anyone with a... You know, with a Rhode Island accent or Boston accent? And, like, let it rip? No, Amy. 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 it.
I mean, you're talking about going to Juilliard, and you've talked a lot about it, and your training there, and what you took from it. Before you got there, who told you, or when did you have that feeling of, I want to be an actor? It's... The reason why I ask, I'm the daughter of school teachers. No one I knew was an actor. I didn't know any actors.
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Chapter 7: What are Viola's thoughts on the importance of representation in film?
We had a little wardrobe budget of $2.50. We'd go to Salvation Army and, you know, or raid my mom's closet. The whole thing was, we did the skit contest because we were like, these people. fucking people in this town. Fuck her, fuck 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've 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 an 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 Juilliard? How do you... You know what? We'll never know. You'll never know.
But what do you audition with to get into Juilliard? I auditioned with Celie from Color Purple. Oh, God. That was my dramatic. And then I auditioned with a sort of comedy piece from, God damn it, I'm forgetting. Oh, boy. But it was sort of French comedy. Like a farce kind of thing? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, when you were doing Shakespeare, do you have a way to memorize Shakespeare?
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 so boring. It really is. It's boring. It's a process. I know what you mean. But what is cool about it is...
I think that the skill involves with the, you know, 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. And memorizing is really hard. Memorizing is, you know what, memorizing is the least difficult part of acting.
Oh, I think these days, these days, I'm finding it so hard. You know, when you have another actor looking in your face and they're waiting for the line, now I'm big with this. And then you know that someone has dropped. I did this with Meryl Streep, you know, in doubt. She had a line. I had a line or whatever. And then nothing happened. I'm looking in her face, nothing. She's saying nothing.
I'm saying nothing. It's obviously someone dropped the line. And then I realize she's the one who dropped the line. Oh my God. Thank God. Meryl Streep 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 fucking line. Of course. But I can't tell Meryl Streep, you forgot the line, Meryl.
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Chapter 8: How does Viola Davis describe her experience on 'The Woman King'?
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. Yeah, that's right. 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... I finally said how to get away with murder. I'm not doing any more love scenes anymore. I mean, that's it. 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? Because 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. Billy Brown loves everyone. And it's TV. Yeah. So Annalise Keating is in bed. Annalise Keating sort of sleeps with a lot of people, men, women. Yeah. 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 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 gotta cut. You gotta cut. Please cut. Please, I can't. That's my nightmare. That's a nightmare. It's a frigging 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. Yeah. 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. Yeah. If you want a pickup, go to the bathroom. You come back. You haven't missed anything. Oh, my God. I feel you. I feel you. I've not done many, but the couple times it's been on the call sheet, I'm like, oh, no. This is the worst day.
And by the way, anybody that's like, ooh, I got a love scene today, red flag. I had to do a love scene with... 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, and it got cut. And I'm so happy it got cut. Because we were having sex on my car in Philadelphia, and it was 12 degrees. I was terrified.
First love scene of my life. But the second love scene, Tom Verica, who plays my husband, how to get away with 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 all do. And so I'm like, yeah, I want makeup. I want makeup on my arms. Yeah. I want makeup on my ass. And it's like... I got makeup on my ankles. Okay. He's getting makeup on. I mean, we're just basically spraying ourselves with makeup. Both of us terrified. Okay. And then finally I had the big aha moment.
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