Viola Davis describes shingles pain as 9 out of 10

Viola Davis told Healthline in an interview published Oct. 12 that shingles pain reached “a 9 out of 10” after she developed the condition at age 50 while traveling between film projects.

Evidence grade: Claim (no study cited) for Davis’s personal account. The health stake is broader: Healthline cited CDC material saying nearly one in three people in the U.S. develops shingles in their lifetime, with risk rising after age 50.

Davis said the episode began as a rash while she was working and traveling. “All of a sudden, I got a rash in the middle of traveling and juggling [back-to-back] movies that started in the middle of my stomach [and] wrapped around my back,” she told Healthline.

She did not seek medical care immediately, according to the article. Davis said the symptoms eased and later returned on her upper back, with what she described as severe nerve pain, before she saw a doctor and learned she had shingles.

Shingles involves the same virus responsible for chickenpox, according to Healthline. Robyn Liu, a member of the board of directors at the American Academy of Family Physicians, told Healthline that anyone who has had chickenpox can develop shingles, and that risk rises with age.

The possible complication is persistent nerve pain. “Many people don’t realize that shingles can be associated with nerve pain, and for some, that pain can last for months or even years after the rash has resolved due to potential long-term complications,” Jennifer Caudle, a family medicine physician and associate professor at Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, told Healthline.

Davis, now 61, has joined GSK’s “Shingles, actually” campaign to raise awareness about shingles. “[I’m] sending the message out there for women to really honor themselves and honor their bodies,” she said.

Davis said the experience changed how she handles routine care. Before shingles, she told Healthline she saw doctors for scheduled screening such as colonoscopy and mammogram, but did not usually go when something felt unusual; afterward, she began scheduling annual checkups and asking more questions.

The article also links the episode to stress management in Davis’s own account. She said she had been handling an intense workload and new parenthood at the time, and that shingles forced her to slow down, but the article does not establish stress as the reason for her outbreak.

For prevention, Liu told Healthline that vaccination is the best way to protect against shingles. Healthline cited CDC material saying the shingles vaccine is more than 90% effective at preventing the disease; Liu said adults 50 and older, and adults 19 and older with weakened immune systems, are recommended to receive two doses.

The Healthline article is not a clinical study and cannot show how typical Davis’s pain score is, whether her work schedule was associated with the outbreak, or how her experience compares with other adults who develop shingles. Its medical claims rely on physicians quoted by Healthline and CDC-linked material cited in the article.

Source: Healthline News article, Oct. 12, 2026.

Atlas360 reports health research and does not provide medical advice.