Viola Davis achieves EGOT status with Grammy win for audiobook

Actress Viola Davis has won a Grammy for the audiobook of her memoir, “Finding Me,” earning her the coveted EGOT status — meaning she has won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award in her career. Davis is just the 18th person to have won all four major entertainment awards.

“I wrote this book to honor 6-year-old Viola,” Davis said Sunday during her acceptance speech. “To honor her life. Her joy. Her trauma, everything. And it has been such a journey. I just EGOT!”

Davis previously won an Oscar for best supporting actress for “Fences,” an Emmy for her role as Annalise Keating in “How to Get Away with Murder,” and two Tony Awards. 

The 57-year-old actress is the third Black woman after Jennifer Hudson and Whoopi Goldberg to achieve the rare honor, according to Entertainment Tonight. Other famous EGOT winners include John Legend, Tim Rice, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. 

Davis said her Grammy win left her feeling “emotional” and that it would have made the younger version of herself very proud. 

“My life has really come full circle,” she said in an interview on the red carpet following the win. “I wrote this book because I was trying to reconcile my life, I was trying to honor the young Viola. I wanted her to be excited at the 57-year-old she gets to become and this is just the icing on the cake.”

Davis’ book, “Finding Me: A Memoir,” explores Davis’ rise to fame, going into detail about her upbringing in Rhode Island and how she broke into acting in New York City.  

Her memoir digs into how she’s dealt with poverty, bullies, race, sexism and the impossible beauty standard that plagues Hollywood.