Viola Davis can thank the lucky stars for her marriage with her husband, Julius Tennon. The How to Get Away With Murder actress and her spouse have enjoyed 18 years of wedded bliss, which is something Viola said she hoped and dreamed for a long time.
“I was the loneliest woman in the world, and someone said, ‘You should just pray for a husband,'” the Oscar-winning actress told Page Six in 2013. After taking her pal’s advice, Viola said she prayed for a “big Black man from the South who looked like a football player, who already had children, who maybe had been married before.”
Little did she know, her prayers would be answered less than a month later on the set of the CBS show City Of Angels in 2000. As Good Housekeeping reported, Viola crossed paths with her hubby after three-and-a-half weeks of wishing, and he couldn’t have been more perfect when it came down to what Viola was asking for.
Not only was Julius a former football player, having earned a full scholarship to play at the University of Tulsa, but he also already had experience in the parenting department. Though there’s not much information out there, Bustle reported he’s the dad of two sons from a previous relationship.
The connection between Viola and Julius was nearly instant, and even though it took the two a little time to go on a date, the Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom star remembers how the actor “just made [her] life better” from the moment he entered it. “After my first date with Julius, my life got better,” she gushed on Black Love in 2017. “[In] every way … [my] anxiety went away [and] fear went away.”
Viola and Julius dated for a few years before marrying in 2003. The lovebirds went on to start their family together, adopting their only child, Genesis, in 2011. The couple is still going strong after all these years and most recently celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary.
“Happy 18th anniversary to the love of my life!!” Viola penned alongside a gorgeous photo of the pair all dolled up in June 2021. “Love you, Julius.”
To learn five fun facts about Julius, scroll through the gallery below!
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