2002: Viola Davis' breakthrough year in cinema
Thursday, June 4, 2020 at 10:00PM TFE likes to focus on a film year in the buildup to the Smackdown. For the first half of June that's 2002.
Viola Davis at a Solaris premiere in 2002
There’s always something novel about seeing a current megastar at the beginning of their career. Who was this person before they became who they are now? How does their early work fit into their current persona? Can we catch a glimpse of the brilliant career that’s coming?
A solid example of this kind of retrospective would be the pretty good year Viola Davis had in 2002. She had appeared in small roles in six films before then but had yet to capture public attention on the screen. Fresh off her first Tony win in 2001 for King Hedley II, that began to change. In 2002 she had noteworthy supporting roles in three major films from high-profile directors, each operating in vastly different genres and released in the key November-December awards slot.
Her most high profile role that year was as Julianne Moore’s housekeeper in Todd Haynes’ Far From Heaven, still the best film Davis has appeared in...
