Viola Davis is celebrating a viral moment that’s sparked chatter across Hollywood. The EGOT-winning actor recently presented the Best Actor award to Michael B. Jordan at the 32nd Annual Actor Awards, and her enthusiastic delivery instantly went viral on social media.
Reflecting on the moment, Davis said the excitement behind her announcement came from genuine admiration for Jordan’s rise as a filmmaker and performer.
Davis laughed about the clip’s sudden popularity, revealing that she and her husband, actor and producer Julius Tennon, have been replaying it. “Me and my husband have been laughing for two days,” Davis said in an interview with Variety, referencing the energetic way she opened the envelope and began quoting a line from August Wilson’s play Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.
Her partial recitation—“You are shining, Harold Loomis. Shining like new money”—was meant to highlight the idea of someone stepping fully into their purpose. “That line is constantly playing out in my mind,” she explained. “It gives me goose bumps. And that’s how I felt about Michael B. Jordan.”
The moment carried deeper meaning for Davis. The line originates from the character Harold Loomis in Wilson’s play, a role originally performed by actor Delroy Lindo.
Lindo currently stars alongside Jordan in the film Sinners. Davis initially hoped she might have the chance to present an award to Lindo and use the quote then, but when she opened the envelope and saw Jordan’s name, she adapted the line to recognize his accomplishments.
“Michael B. Jordan is an incredible human and an incredible leader,” Davis said. She also pointed to his expanding influence behind the camera. “It’s extremely exciting what he’s going to become. Now he’s getting into directing, and he is going to bring African American filmmaking into a beautiful place.”
The viral moment comes as Davis is exploring a different creative direction of her own. The actor recently released Judge Stone, a courtroom thriller co-written with bestselling novelist James Patterson and published by Little, Brown and Company.
The story centers on a respected Alabama judge presiding over a controversial case involving a 13-year-old girl who becomes pregnant after a sexual assault and a doctor charged with murder under the state’s abortion laws.
For Davis, the book represents the fulfillment of a goal that began decades ago. She has said that writing crime stories was a dream she carried from childhood, long before her career on stage and screen took off.