Viola Davis Quotes

Someone's got to break the glass ceiling, and once it's broken, everybody else comes clamouring up behind.

As I got further into my career, as a character of color, if I was going to have the types of opportunities I felt I deserved, and continue to have them, I was going to have to start creating those opportunities for myself.

You have to make the most of any time you are given, and any opportunity I'm given, whether it was as Charlotte Flair's protege, standing up against Ronda Rousey, being the statistician of Titus Worldwide, I want to show my range.

Nobody was like, 'Kimberly, we're going to let you anchor general news or host a show or do any of that.' I at first started out doing legal analysis, but I had to make the case to my bosses... give me a shot, give me a chance, and I was able to do that: say, 'Let me fill in. Let me show you my range. Nothing to lose here - it's the holidays.'

Glass ceilings have been broken, but more have to be broken.

TV kind of worked out naturally for me. I was fortunate to do a show like 'Breaking Bad' and then go straight into something like 'Friday Night Lights.' It's not something I focus on, but when they're great projects, I can't pass them up.

Obviously, I've been very lucky in general in my career, but I feel that I've been very lucky in terms of having directors come along at the right times who have taken me to the next level of where I needed to be.

I'm in a place in my life where I get offered parts that I didn't get offered before - fathers and uncles and grandfathers and so on. And it took me a long time to get to that place, but I'm glad because it opens up new territory.

People always tell me the next stage of my career means moving to New York, but I never will. I don't care how that affects my career, and I think it's stupid that it would.

One of the reasons that I'm still in the military - or I stayed in the military - is because I think the military has been a place where certainly people could improve, advance, and were treated fairly.

I've been very lucky with my career and don't feel like I'm being typecast in the same role over and over again.

People don't know this, but early in your career, you don't just glide on to The Tonight Show.

You've got to pay the bills, and you want to get your foot in. The great shows usually aren't going to look for somebody completely untested, so you have to kind of get your feet wet doing other shows.

I've been very fortunate to have had the opportunities to have the career I've had.

When I took my first job, I was among only a handful of women. It was isolating at times. My love for technology kept me going, and I got to where I am today driven by my passion and self confidence.

I regard office as not an end but an opportunity.

I've always viewed politics the following way: if you do a good job at the job you're doing, you'll have opportunities to do other things in the future. Maybe things you never envisioned.

If you look at the pipeline of women moving up through the organisation, it's a matter of time and experience that they develop and performance that allows them to move into senior levels.

I'd had colleagues tell me, 'You should be calling games.' But to actually have a producer call me and say, 'We want you in the booth,' I was like, What?

When you have been lucky enough to move up the ladder, all you see, really, is the slide back down. You don't see the further steps upwards.

I think in more ways than one 'Uyir' did a lot good, getting the scope to perform. Things have really fallen in place since then. Breaking free of the shackles has given me the rich option to choose and pick from the range of characters coming my way.

You can hit the proverbial roof at certain areas in the industry unless you venture out. And I never really set out in my career to stay in one place. I wanted to go out and try new things. Luckily, I've had that opportunity.

'House of Cards' opened some doors. I've been able to tackle some diverse stories and characters.

It started with Dragon Gate USA, where I started as a guy on the pre-show and wasn't promised anything. I kept coming and doing what I do and ended up on the main show and eventually won their championship.

It's not that I set out to say, 'I'm going be the first assistant coach in the NBA.' That really - it was never my intent. It just kind of happened very naturally.