Viola Davis and Helen Mirren Open Up About Overcoming Their Confidence Struggles
Leading ladies Helen Mirren, 74, and Viola Davis, 54, have accolades that most in Hollywood can only dream about. But the road to racking up Oscar wins and iconic movie roles wasn't always easy — as young actresses starting out, both struggled with confidence issues.
"It was sort of swept up under the carpet, you were never really allowed to talk about not having self confidence," Helen tells Good Housekeeping during the L’Oreal Paris Age Perfect Launch event. "You just had to, you know, put on the show and not ever show any vulnerability or weakness."
The How to Get Away With Murder star agrees, adding that big award shows in particular heightened her insecurities.
"In my first red carpet that I had, I actually had a serious panic attack. It was the first I ever had a panic attack," Viola recalls. "I didn’t know what that was until then. Because I was trying to fit in. I was trying to do what everyone else was doing, and that’s not who I am. I’m not a poser, I’m not an oober size-0 woman — that’s not who I am ... I didn’t understand the whole idea of belonging to yourself first."
For Viola, the key was to keep confronting her fears of walking the red carpet "over and over again" until, eventually, something clicked. While donning a yellow one-shoulder David Meister gown the night of the 2009 SAG Awards, everything changed.
"I always feel like the best thing that can happen sometimes, at least in my life, is feeling like you keep failing," Viola begins. "And then you hit bottom, and then you have no choice but to climb yourself out of the hole and figure out what’s going to get you out. That first time that I actually just looked in the camera and smiled, just as me, that was the biggest aha moment."
As for Helen, she didn't have one big "aha moment." Over time, she realized that instead of fighting her self-doubt, she should focus on coming to terms with it. Though the Excalibur actress still occasionally experiences bouts of "feeling real, real inadequacy," she has found that with age, she can better handle them.
Helen explains: "As I got older, I realized I wasn’t the only one who felt like that. Most people feel like that. That is a great help to understand you’re not the only one."
Now, both passionate about inspiring self confidence, Helen and Viola have partnered with L'Oreal Paris to launch the company's new Age Perfect makeup line — a collection of foundations, lipsticks, and concealers designed to adapt to a woman's makeup needs as she gets older. It is their hope that more and more people recognize the true beauty in becoming more self-assured with age ... just as they did.
"The day I was born is the day I became worthy. And I say that to everybody out there — there is absolutely nothing you have to do for it," Viola declares. "If anyone is telling you otherwise, they’re telling you a straight-up lie."
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