Viola Davis

2023 - 1 - 31

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Image courtesy of "IndieWire"

Viola Davis Confronts Two Americas in 'Finding Your Roots' Clip (IndieWire)

The Oscar and Tony-Award winner sits down with Henry Louis Gates to trace back her family history. Exclusive.

As one of the most decorated Black celebrities in Hollywood, it’s a painful but ever-present dichotomy in Davis’ life, and one she acknowledges explicitly. She and Gates discuss the implications of something as simple as this language, of how an entire system was set up to debase and dehumanize Black people in the United States. Each actor sits down with Gates as he reveals the results of DNA-analysis and other meticulous research to acquaint them with a supposedly distant past. “It hurts my soul, it really does.” on the PBS program to track historical records, revisit Davis’ own personal history, and piece together her past. [PBS](https://www.indiewire.com/t/pbs/), actor [Viola Davis](https://www.indiewire.com/t/viola-davis/) says: “There is no explaining where we are as people, and where we are as a country without blowing the lid off of this.” In a show about personal histories, hers is inextricably linked to the nation’s.

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Image courtesy of "Newsweek"

'Finding Your Roots' Host Worried the Show Wouldn't Work with ... (Newsweek)

Henry Louis Gates Jr. spoke to Newsweek ahead of the upcoming episode featuring "Succession's" Brian Cox and Oscar winner Viola Davis.

"My favorite class was an ancient history class in the fifth grade when I was 10 years old. Gates Jr., a self-confessed fan of Succession, was thrilled when Cox agreed to do the show, and shared a behind-the-scenes video of the segment on "I've been in school since August 31 1956, when I started first grade, I've never left school," Gates Jr. We have a genius, genetic genealogist, one of the pioneers of the field in CeCe Moore." Nobody knows about their heritage, and that's been the biggest surprise." "When I was filming Oprah, I realized that I had misunderstood the narrative arc of the shoot. Long before he became the comforting presence on TV, Gates Jr. "My idea was that I would reveal where in Africa, on a guest mother's mother's line, they had hailed from. Ahead of the latest episode on PBS, which features Brian Cox and Viola Davis, Gates Jr. The show proved so successful, it was continued in various guises before eventually developing into Finding Your Roots. He also wrote many non-fiction books on African American history, and won many awards in the process. Popular ancestry show Finding Your Roots is deep into its ninth season but host Henry Louis Gates Jr.

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