2025 Golden Globes: Viola Davis’ Powerful Cecil B. DeMille Award Speech Will Inspire You

You’ll need no help understanding why Viola Davis received this standing ovation.

The EGOT winner delivered a powerful speech while accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award Speech ahead of the 2025 Golden Globes, hosted by Nikki Glaser on Jan. 5. At the Golden Gala on Jan. 3, Davis shared a touching message on her journey from childhood to stardom. 

“I was born into a life that just simply did not make sense. I didn’t fit in,” Davis, 59, said. “I was born into abject poverty. I was mischievous. I was imaginative. I was rambunctious. But I was so poor. Growing up in a house with alcoholism and rage, infested with rats everywhere. Toilets that never worked.”

The Help star turned to her imagination as an escape.

“What I had was magic. I was curious. I could teleport—I could take myself out of this worthless world and relieve myself of it at times,” she continued. “I could go to a place where I can have belly laughs. Where I can have fun. The biggest magic was, I could see people.”