Victory for Viola

Viola Davis receiving her Best Actress award for "The Help"
at the 2012 Critics’ Choice Movie Awards...

“I am absolutely so humbled. The 2 most important days of a person’s life are: the day you were born, and the day you discover WHY you were born.

You know, 5 hours on the bus going to Acting classes when I was 14yrs old and coming from very challenging circumstances, I absolutely knew I wanted to be an actor. I wanted to be somebody. I wanted to dream big and fierce! Just make my mark somehow.

That was something that Abeline was not afforded. I considered it my honor to pay homage to these women at this time period who were not allowed to dream and not allowed to find their purpose, but thank God – PRAISE God – that they gave birth to me, my mother, and my grandmother. And I thank Kathryn Stockett for writing The Help. I thank Dreamworks, Disney, 1492… for being the most incredible leaders.

I am absolutely honored to be in the company of so many women of so many sizes, ages, and races and to be such a part of a story that is an incredible part of American history to show that, you know what – Even despite the atrocities that can happen in the past, friendship and love can help us find our way. Thank you very much!”

Diva Skills

Am I a diva on set? Well, I have, like, 15 different assistants,
and I don't know any of their names.

I make them print out a sheet that I hand to all my coworkers, saying:

"Do not look me in the eye.

Do not call me by my first name.

Do not call me by my last name.

Do not call me.

Do not speak unless you're spoken to.

You're fired."

- Amy Poehler -

Before I'm 30

Until I was 30, I dated only boys. I’ll tell you why: Men scared the sh*t out of me. Men know what they want. Men own alarm clocks. Men sleep on a mattress that isn’t on the floor. Men buy new shampoo instead of adding water to a nearly empty bottle of shampoo. Men make reservations. Men go in for a kiss without giving you some long preamble about how they’re thinking of kissing you. Men wear clothes that have never been worn by anyone else before.

Okay, maybe men aren’t exactly like this. But this is what I’ve cobbled together from the handful of men I know or know of, ranging from Heathcliff Huxtable to Theodore Roosevelt to my dad. The point: Men know what they want, and that is scary… What I was used to was boys.

Boys are adorable. Boys trail off their sentences in an appealing way. Boys get haircuts from their roommate, who “totally knows how to cut hair.” Boys can pack up their whole life and move to Brooklyn for a gig if they need to. Boys have “gigs.” Boys are broke. And when they do have money, they spend it on a trip to Colorado to see a music festival. Boys can talk for hours with you in a dinner at 3am because they don’t have regular work hours.

So I’m into men now, even though they can be frightening. I want a schedule-keeping, waking up-early, wallet-carrying, picture-hanging man. I don’t care if he takes prescription drugs for cholesterol or hair loss. (I don’t want that, but I can handle it. I’m a grown-up too.)

I know I’m only marginally qualified to be giving advice. I’m not married, I frequently use my debit card to buy things that cost less than three dollars, and my bedroom is so untidy it looks like vandals ransacked the Anthropologie sale section. I’m kind of a mess.

I did, however, fulfill a childhood dream of writing, producing and acting in television and movies. Armed with that confidence, alongside a lifelong love of the sound of my own voice, I’m giving you this bit of wisdom: When you turn 30 – maybe even before – a fun thing to try is dating men. It’ll be like freshly ground peanut butter, times a million.

An excerpt from “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?” By Mindy Kaling