Viola Davis Reveals Unexpected Dream Movie Role

With a career spanning several decades and a string of acclaimed performances in the likes of Doubt, The Help, Fences, The Woman King, and most recently, in the biographical drama Air, EGOT winner Viola Davis is deemed one of the greatest acting talents of a generation. Although it appears the award-winning actor has done it all, with a variety of different roles and genres under her belt, Davis recently revealed the one genre she wants to explore next — and it perhaps isn’t what fans would expect.

During an April 2023 interview with IndieWire, the Oscar winner said there are “a lot of things I haven’t done in my career,” before revealing that she would “love” to do a zombie movie. “Now I say that, in shooting it, I don’t know if I can distinguish between the real and the fiction because if someone was running at me as a zombie, I don’t know. You might hear some stories,” Davis joked, adding that she wants her own version of 2016’s Train to Busan. “I want to fight some zombies. That’s what I want to do.”

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Davis made the comments while attending the 48th Annual Chaplin Gala on April 24, where she was this year’s honoree. Speaking at the event — which was also attended by some of Davis’ A-list friends and colleagues including Meryl Streep, Jessica Chastain, and Adrienne Warren — the actor also shared her directorial aspirations.

“I feel like I have a director’s head,” Davis said. “I love tapping into [other actors’] potential. And I’m always watching movies saying, ‘If that beautiful actor had just done this, this and that.’”

While accepting her award at Film at Lincoln Center, Davis said she was in “shock” over being recognized at the gala, before adding in her speech: “I have an opinion or fantasy, whatever you want to name it, that every artist creates for the purpose to love.”