Who Is Julius Tennon, Viola Davis' Husband?
Ask and you shall receive! That is certainly a mantra actor Viola Davis can relate to after spending the past 17 years married to a man who is nearly identical to the one she prayed for just a short time before meeting.
During an interview with Page Six in 2013, Davis, looked back on the way husband Julius Tennon came into her life. "I was the loneliest woman in the world, and someone said, 'You should just pray for a husband,'" she recalled. And that's exactly what she did, saying specifically that she "wanted a big Black man from the South who looked like a football player, who already had children, who maybe had been married before."
Just over three weeks later, Davis met Tennon, a Texas native who, according to Bustle, just so happened to be a football player with two children from a past marriage. In addition to being a standout football player at the University of Tulsa, where he earned a full scholarship for the sport, Tennon was the very first African American to graduate from the university's theater department.
Julius Tennon has seen success as an actor and producer
According to an additional report from Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Julius Tennon has appeared as an actor in a number of films, including Dazed and Confused, Small Soldiers, and Faster, and was also featured alongside Davis during the 2017 season of How to Get Away with Murder. He's even made a name for himself behind the scenes, serving as a producer on projects, including First Ladies, Emanuel, The Last Defense, American Koko, Night Shift, and Custody.
Because they both have careers in entertainment, it seems only fitting that Davis and husband Tennon have worked together. And they have, as in HTGAWM in 2017. But they also, as per Backstage, have their own business. In 2011, the couple founded JuVee Productions, which recently expanded its scope after inking a film deal with Amazon Studios in 2020 (via Deadline).
Davis and Tennon tied the knot in 2003 in front of 15 people at their condo before celebrating their marriage with a second ceremony attended by 100 people in Rhode Island, as reported by E!. They share one daughter, Genesis, who they adopted in 2011, as confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter.