 Following graduation from high school, Davis studied at Rhode Island College, majoring in theater and participating in National Student Exchange before graduating in 1988.Next, she attended the Juilliard School for four years, and was a member of the school's Drama Division "Group 22" (1989–93).Davis received her Screen Actors Guild card in 1996 for doing one day of work, playing a nurse who passes a vial of blood to future "How To Get Away With Murder" co-star Timothy Hutton in the film "The Substance of Fire".