Viola Davis and Julius Tennon recently shared a light-hearted moment from their early dating days while promoting their new action film G20 during an episode of First We Feast’s Hot Ones Versus. The pair, married since 2003, kept the audience laughing with stories that shed light on the inner workings of their marriage.
Viola Davis at 59 is at the peak of her powers as an actor and producer, her husband 71-year-old Julius Tennon still vital. The couple first met in 1999 and today they co-parent a 14-year-old daughter named Genesis. As creative partners, they have worked together professionally, most significantly co-founding JuVee Productions in 2011, through which they co-produced G20.
In that interview, Davis told us a hilarious story from the first days of their courtship. He shared with us that Tennon used to start vacuuming at 6 a.m! And her mother’s insistence that cleaning so early in the morning was an absolute must did not please her.
“Julius, it’s 6 a.m. in the morning. It was 6 a.m. in the morning, Julius,” she remarked, emphasizing her surprise at his choice of timing.
The vacuuming episode was only the second time this had happened, Tennon, who has a love of cleanliness and order, admitted. Turning serious, he offered a wry explanation for why Davis’s habit of sleeping in saved him from this early morning scrubbing spree.
“That’s because you like to sleep late,” he joked.
While she’s not always a fan of her husband’s commitment to tidiness, she acknowledges that their home would be pretty chaotic without his influence.
“I appreciate it; that’s why we have a clean house,” she stated.
She continued, “Because if it was just left up to me I’d be a wreck, wouldn’t I?
The couple’s candid discussion of their marriage, including their unorthodox values around sustaining a long-term partnership would signal a different way of being married. Second, they noted how little they operate by hard and fast rules. Rather, they can focus on really understanding the other’s style and preferences.
The couple made their mark on the world as passengers on the premiere flight to G20 on March 27, publicly displaying their commitment, both personally and professionally. The film in turn is just one piece of a larger story the couple hopes to share through their still-young production company.