Viola Davis will receive the Gregory Peck Award for Cinematic Excellence at this year’s San Diego International Film Festival, adding another major honor to a career spanning film, television, and theater.
Davis will be celebrated during the festival’s Night of the Stars Tribute on October 13 at The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in La Jolla, with Cecilia Peck, Gregory Peck’s daughter, presenting the award. She’s the first African American woman to receive the honor since it launched in 2008, and only the fourth woman overall.
“Viola Davis is one of the most extraordinary artists of our time,” said Tonya Mantooth, CEO and artistic director of the San Diego International Film Festival. “Her performances bring power, vulnerability and truth to every role, while her work beyond the screen has helped create opportunities for others. The Gregory Peck Award celebrates an enduring contribution to cinema, and Viola Davis embodies that legacy. We are honored to celebrate her remarkable artistry and impact.”
Mantooth said the selection process weighs both an artist’s range and their humanitarian record, values tied directly to Peck’s own legacy. “Cecilia Peck, who is Gregory Peck’s daughter, sits on my board of directors, and because of that, we’re able to give and present the Gregory Peck Award,” Mantooth said. “What the board looks for are two things: one is the body of work they feel like represents the kind of range that he had. But equally, it’s how much of a humanitarian are they. How have they given back in their life? And how have they gone to serve those who are underserved? Because that was a big piece for Gregory Peck,” she added, referencing the Golden Era star and La Jolla native perhaps best remembered for playing Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Mantooth pointed to Davis’s EGOT status and philanthropic record as key factors behind the honor. “Her body of work is extraordinary,” she said. “And then you turn around and you look what she’s given back in terms of philanthropy. She started a foundation to help fight hunger for children as well as fighting domestic abuse. Her give-back to the world is as equal as what she gives to us on the screen.”
Davis joins a list of past Gregory Peck Award recipients that includes Mark Hamill, Penelope Ann Miller, Laurence Fishburne, Andy Garcia, Patrick Stewart, Alan Arkin, and Annette Bening.
The honor arrives during an active stretch for Davis. Earlier this year, she released the courtroom novel “Judge Stone,” co-written with James Patterson, and her Davis-Tennon Foundation announced a $1.2 million investment in a new Rhode Island community center named for her mother. She also received the Chairman’s Award at the 2026 NAACP Image Awards, where she reflected on her career, her childhood, and the performers whose work paved the way for later generations of Black talent.
Davis won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for reprising her role in the 2016 film adaptation of August Wilson’s “Fences,” a performance for which she’d previously won a Tony in 2010. She’s also earned Academy Award nominations for “Doubt,” “The Help,” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” and won a Primetime Emmy in 2015 for her role as Annalise Keating on ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder.” Her additional film credits include “The Woman King,” “Air,” and “G20.”
The San Diego International Film Festival marks its 25th year this fall, running October 13 through 18. The festival has also announced Jesse Eisenberg’s “The Debut” as its opening night film.