Metro Weekly

Is Viola Davis About To Complete Her EGOT With Her First Grammy Nom?

In just a few months, Viola Davis may be a new entrant into the prestigious and highly exclusive EGOT club.

Viola Davis in How to Get Away with Murder – Photo: ABC/Nicole Rivelli

It looks like in just a few months, there may be a new entrant into the prestigious and highly exclusive EGOT club.

Earlier this week, actress Viola Davis was nominated for her first-ever Grammy Award. The G just happens to be the only letter she’s missing in her EGOT, and while it’s too early to tell who will take home the trophy, it seems like there’s a very good chance that she will end up the winner, therefore filling in the G in one of the most important acronyms in all of entertainment.

Davis is nominated in the Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording category, which went by a much shorter and easier-to-remember name until the Recording Academy split it into two different verticals.

Now, there is one category dedicated to audiobooks and similar projects, and another ​​that focuses solely on poetry. Davis is up for the honor for the audio recording of her own book Finding Me, her recently-released memoir.

One of the most successful and beloved actors in Hollywood, Davis has the trophies on her shelf to prove her talent — and soon she may have one more.

She began down this EGOT road in 2001 when she won her first Tony award for her role in the play King Hedley II. Less than a decade later, she would double her total with a second Best Leading Actress in a Play trophy, that time for Fences. She was also nominated in 1996 in the same field for the play Seven Guitars, but she didn’t end up taking the prize home that year.

In 2015, she grabbed the E in EGOT by winning her first Emmy for the show How to Get Away with Murder. She would go on to be nominated in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series category four times for that same program, though she only won a single trophy. She was also nominated for a guest appearance on the series Scandal, though that didn’t result in her taking home any hardware either.

Just one year after collecting an Emmy, Davis also became an Academy Award-winning actor, or when looking at the EGOT acronym, the Oscar. She came out on top in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role in the film adaptation of Fences, as she reprised the same role that she played on Broadway, which won her a Tony.

Davis scored her first Oscar on her third nomination, as she had also been nominated for her incredible work in the films Doubt and The Help. Most recently, she was nominated for a fourth Oscar, landing a Best Actress nod for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, though she didn’t win a second trophy.

Davis is one of a number of well-known figures who are only missing the Grammy in their EGOT. Also included in this club are fellow former nominees (but not winners) Ellen Burstyn,  Liza Minelli, Al Pacino, and Vanessa Redgrave.

While she may have at least a one-in-five chance of winning a Grammy next year, Davis does face some tough competition in the race to the prize. She is up against fellow stars Jamie Foxx, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mel Brooks, and Questlove–all of whom already have Grammys.

While she waits to find out if she becomes the next star to be welcomed into the EGOT club, Davis is also hoping to snag another Oscar nod for her role in The Woman King, which could end up with several nods at the upcoming show.

The winners of the 65th annual Grammy Awards will be named on February 5, 2023, when the ceremony takes place live from Los Angeles once again.

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