Viola Davis’s impoverished upbringing motivated her to succeed

Los Angeles, Mar 4 (PTI) Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis says poor upbringing motivated her to be a successful actress and value her possessions.

The 51-year-old actress has opened up about her childhood growing up in a one-bedroom cabin on her grandmother's farm in Rhode Island that was infested with rats, and how that experience of poverty gave her the incentive to change her world for the better, reported People magazine.

"It became motivation as opposed to something else - the thing about poverty is that it starts affecting your mind and your spirit because people don't see you.

"I chose from a very young age that I didn't want that for my life. And it very much has helped me appreciate and value the things that are in my life now because I never had it. A yard, a house, great plumbing, a full refrigerator, things that people take for granted, I don't," Davis says.

Last weekend the star won the best actress in a supporting role Oscar for her performance in "Fences" opposite Denzel Washington.