Viola Davis on tackling prejudice and embracing trauma

Not many actors have won an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony Award, but Viola Davis has been honoured with all the major accolades. All the more extraordinary when you consider her childhood of extreme poverty and abuse.

In her new memoir she describes “an emotional abandonment which comes with poverty and being black” – the kind of trauma which didn’t leave much room for anything else.

But acting became her way out and the gateway to a life synonymous with stardom and glamour.