Actress Viola Davis Recalls Praying For Future Husband: ‘Someone Who Goes To Church And Loves God’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis once prayed for God to send her a husband – and her prayers were answered.
In a clip from the upcoming OPRAH + VIOLA: A NETFLIX SPECIAL EVENT, Davis recounts the time her friend told her to pray for a husband with specific attributes that would complement her own character.
“He said, ‘Viola, even the vacuous stuff, just put it all in there. Looks, everything,’” Davis said. “I said, ‘Really? With God? I gotta tell Him that?’ He’s like, ‘Yes. You gotta put it all out there.’ He was like, ‘Be careful.’”
Davis continued: “And I went and I got on my knees, and I did. I said I want a big black man from the South who’s probably been married before, has kids — because I don’t want any pressure in that department. Someone who has maybe been an actor who understands the artistic community. Someone who goes to church and loves God. I said, ‘If you give me that, I’ll start going to church, God. I really will. I’m committed to it.’ And then I signed off.”
Just three and a half weeks later, Davis met Julius Tennon, who fit all her criteria. The couple eventually were married on June 23, 2003.
Davis and Tennon now work together to bring uplifting content to the public with their production company, JuVee Productions. They were executive producers on EMANUEL, a documentary telling the story of the 2015 mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Movieguide® previously reported on Davis’ faith, specifically when she forgave her father after years of abuse:
“How you react is based on survival,” the 56-year-old told PEOPLE. “The key is to survive. I did what was at my hand to do at 8 years old. I fought. And that fighting served me because I’m still on my feet.”
Davis said that her father, Dan, abused her mother at home physically and emotionally. Despite the abuse, Davis’ mother, Mae Alice, stayed married to Dan for 48 years.
“My dad changed,” Davis explained. “My mom said he apologized to her every single day. Every single day, he rubbed her feet. Forgiveness is not pretty. Sometimes people don’t understand that life is not a Thursday-night lineup on ABC. It is messy. He did hurt me then, but love and forgiveness can operate on the same plane as anger.”
Davis said she made peace with Dan before her his death due to pancreatic cancer in 2006, displaying Christ-like forgiveness to her father.
“I wanted to love my dad,” she said. “And here’s the thing: My dad loved me. I saw it. I felt it. I received it, and I took it. For me, that’s a much better gift and less of a burden than going through my entire life carrying that big, heavy weight of who he used to be and what he used to do. That’s my choice. That’s my legacy: forgiving my dad.”
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