Reprising the role she played on Broadway opposite Denzel Washington, Viola Davis is a quiet storm of determination, anger and devotion as Rose, the wife of the hard-headed, short-tempered Troy (played again by Denzel Washington, who directed the film from a script by playwright August Wilson). “August Wilson wrote the screenplay more than two decades ago and it lends itself to the cinematic experience because really at the heart of the story it’s just about a family and we’ve seen these epic stories before”, Davis told us. “I think that there’s a universality to it even though it’s an African-American family, it’s all families.  I think we have to stop thinking that the African-American experience is not inclusive, that Troy’s relationship to Cory, my relationship to Troy, I think it’s something that everyone can relate to.” This is Viola Davis’ fifth nomination.