Viola Davis Thought She Was Going to Have a Heart Attack While Training for The Woman King

-I’m so happy you’re here. Thank you for coming back on the show. -I’m happy to be here. -Happy to have you in person. Last time you were on, we were Zooming. -Oh, my God. -Remember that? -Oh, yeah. -Remember the Zoom days? -And I was trying to quiet my dog in the back and do everything. -By the way, the puppy — I wanted to talk about this, ’cause this is your puppy. You just got this during the — Look at how cute. Bailey. -That was a pandemic dog. -I mean, come on. Which one is the stuffed

animal? -And now he’s grown. -Yeah. And then look. Bailey grown up. Look. Wow. And how is puppy? -Bailey has taken over. -Just has, right? -Bailey’s taken over the whole house. He knows how to open doors. He knows how to go to the pantry to sneak snacks. And then Bailey — We got him dog food. He was like, “I don’t want that -He grew up fast. -“Y’all have an organic diet. I want organic food, too.” Now we have Farmer’s Dog. -Oh, my God. -We got it on rotation. -Gourmet dog now. -Bailey goes to the vet. -Oh,

my God. Bailey drives himself? -No, we drive him, but at this point, I’m looking at those vet bills and I’m like, “When

I had a dog when I was a kid, our dog ate Alpo.” -Yeah, of course. -If that. There was sometimes when I was like, “I don’t know what the hell my dog ate.” -Yeah, now the dog has Uber Eats. -Yeah, exactly. -I was giving your intro, and just what a great intro. I mean, you’ve won an Oscar, an Emmy, a Golden Globe, a Tony. You’ve won everything. I mean, well deserved. Giant movie this

weekend. But you’re also a number-1 “New York Times” best-selling author. Congratulations to Viola Davis. ♪♪ -You know what? The only thing I could think about with this book is, my daughter’s always saying, “Mom, you’ve got a god complex.” So, I can’t — But I’m very proud of the book. That’s all I’m going to say, Genesis. -Yes. I love that this has been number 1 for weeks now, “New York Times” best seller. -Yes. -Is it hard to write a memoir? Is it therapeutic to write a memoir? -It is terrifying, because you’re outing people. And I wanted

to call people by their names, because I just want to say, “Look what you did to me when I was 6 years old.” But I couldn’t do it because, you know, I don’t want to be sued. -Yeah, of course. -You know, so… -Yeah, so you had to change some of the names, yeah. -But it is incredibly cathartic, especially because I wrote it during the pandemic. So I was like… -Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And you got it all out. -I left it all on the floor. -But what a great story. -Yes. -And it starts with — But

look at how — Look at this cute little girl. I mean, come on. Look at what she’s done. Now, you start like a little kid, and now here you are “The Woman King.” Here you go. Big deal. -It is a big deal. -This is a big movie. Everyone is saying this is the event movie we’ve been waiting for now, right? -It’s the event movie. Let me tell you something. I was 56 when I trained to be this warrior, now. Five hours a day. Hour and a half of weight training, three and a half hours of

martial arts, punching, 10.0 on the treadmill. This is the god complex. -Wow! That’s what I’m talking about! 10.0. -And as I was running on that treadmill, Jimmy, I said, “I’m gonna have a damn heart attack.” -No, no, no. Look at how good you look, though, in the movie. I mean, come on. Look at this. Look at that. That one shot of you flying in the air with the machete — it’s just iconic. -Listen, if you ever need — You know, anybody ever bothers you, I mean, I can take care of it. -Yeah, Viola Davis, I’ll

call you first. But you’ve got to be proud of that. That’s an iconic scene already, before the movie is out. I go, “Oh, yeah, for the rest of your life.” And then I was talking to you backstage. You said it took you seven years to make this? -Seven years. -Wow. -Just fought for seven — But you know what? It takes long to make any movie in Hollywood. -True. -It really, really does. You’re fighting for everything. You’re fighting for the actors. You’re fighting — And then, when you’re finally on that soil — Because we shot in

South Africa. -I mean, come on. -And there is nothing — And the girls, the women in the audience knows, there is nothing like looking at a 250-pound man with a machete coming at you, and you know that, in two seconds or less, you’re gonna have to defend yourself. -Yeah, yeah. -And the only thing I could think — I was like, “Pssss!” -What are you talking about? -I mean, it’s terrifying. And then they yell “action,” and that’s it. -Yeah. -You are on that man. You have your sword, he has his, and you’ve got to do it.

You’ve got to take care of yourself. -You are a badass in this movie. It is unbelievable. -Mm-hmm. -It is iconic. Right now, it is at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. 100% fresh. So congratulations on that. Great reviews. But, I mean, this is — -But you’ve got see it, because let me tell you something. Now, you can attest to it. -Yeah. -From the very moment the movie opens, you are on a ride. -Yes. -It is a movie for everybody. -Yeah, people screaming. -And, I mean — -Was it the Toronto Film Festival? -Toronto Film Festival. My daughter saw

it. And my daughter was crying. This was, you know, after the god complex, you know. -She’s like, “Yeah, it doesn’t help your god complex.” -My daughter is at her eye-rolling stage, okay? She’s like — I mean, even when she said, “Mom, you got a god complex,” I said, “Oh, my God, Genesis. I do not have a god complex.” She was like, “Alexa, define god complex.” And then, after I heard it, I was like, “Oh, my God. I have a god complex.” -Yeah, I actually have one, yeah. -But, you know, after the movie, she said, “Mommy,

I’m so proud of you.” -But they said the applause was so crazy for the first minute in the movie. Once you came on the screen, everyone went nuts. And it was like — That must have been exciting, right? -That must — I’m telling you — And, first of all, I mean, I know I say it, but there is nothing that can be said about being 56 and running at 10.0 on the treadmill. And, I mean, literally every day was like… -But it’s worth it. You don’t see that. -To see it on the screen, I’m like,

“I did that.” -Yeah. And it will live forever. -Yes. -Congratulations. I want to show everyone a clip. Here’s Viola Davis in “The Woman King.” Take a look at this. -When the wind blows, our ancestors push us to march into battle against those who enslave us. When it thunders, our ancestors demand we rip the shackles of doubt from our minds and fight with courage. We fight not just for today, but for the future. We are the spear of victory. We are the blade of freedom. -Yes! Come on! Yes! Do you feel it?! Viola Davis, everybody! “The

Woman King” opens in theaters this Friday. Karamo joins us after the break. Stick around, everybody.