“Why is your penis on a dead girl’s phone?” Those nine words ended an early Season 1 episode ofHow to Get Away with Murderon a sensational cliffhanger that exposed a major infidelity. The legal thriller/murder mystery showcreated byShonda Rhimescontinued to hurlunpredictable plot twistsand cliffhangers at viewers for its six-season run; it also knew how to cool off after the high-tension work of covering up a murder by giving steamy scenes for everyone in the cast.
One of the best parts ofHow to Get Away with Murderwasits subversive approach to sexuality with its queer representation and Black characters.In the first season, the young cast isn’t the only ones taking a break for a hookup.Viola Davisportrayed the love life of formidable criminal defense attorney Annalise Keating, one of the most memorable roles of the actress, due to the show’s fearlessness in showcasing every aspect of the character. There was the good, the bad, and everything in between. The role was empowering for the modern acting legend, but Davis was also frank about how an on-set mishap injured her during a steamy scene that went slightly wrong.
Season 1 of ‘How to Get Away with Murder’ Was a Very Sexy Thriller
Annalise Keating knows how to find out people’s secrets. It’s why she is anexcellent fictional attorney for TV, and teaches her methods as a law professor at Middleton University in Philadelphia. But five of her students that she mentors,dubbed “the Keating Five,“get in over their heads in a flash-forward plot line for Season 1 when they kill Annalise’s husband, Sam (Tom Verica), in self-defense. Tracing the events leading up to the death and the mayhem that ensues after makes for thrilling TV asAnnalise helps to cover up the mess the Keating Five get themselves into.But she, too, is full of secrets that she doesn’t want people to find out.
The first episode has one of the Keating Five, Wes (Alfred Enoch), stumble upon his professor hooking up with Nate (Billy Brown), a local detective who is not her husband. Of course, Annalise isn’t the only deceptive one in her marriage. She discovers her husband’s affair with a recently murdered college girl (who was also one of his students, to increase the scandal), which leads her to ask that nine-worded question, with his nude pic on the dead girl’s phone as her proof. In the middle ofso many twists and turns, Annalise’s love life, marital and extramarital, doesn’t make her guilt-free. She is morally ambiguous, butHow to Get Away with Murderdoesn’t punish her for it. The later seasons continue to explore her sexuality, like rekindling her romance with old flame Eve (Famke Janssen), but Season 1 is whereViola Davis has a scene that caused her to be injured.
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“Let’s find out what’s for dinner.”
Playing Annalise Keating Wasn’t Always Fun for Viola Davis
As a show on network TV,HTGAWMhad a unique franknessin queer representationwith the hookups between Connor (Jack Falahee) and Oliver (Conrad Ricamora), a later threesome for Connor, and Olivier’s story arc centered around his HIV-positive status. It was just as subversive for Annalise. During a featurette for Season 6,Davis revealed thatHow to Get Away with Murdergave herthe first real sex scene of her careerwhen she had the hookups in Season 1 between Annalise and Nate. But those scenes were more challenging than simply feeling awkward in front of the camera.
Viola Davis was onThe Ellen DeGeneres Showin 2016, where she recalled what happened with costar Billy Brown. He threw her against the wall, perfect for the drama of TV, but Davis explained in her interview, “I threw my back out for two weeks,andmy hip.So I limped around for two weeks, and I said, ‘No more walls.'” Unfortunately for Davis, she went through all that and, in the end, the scene was cut from the show. The closest viewers got to seeing a scene like it was in Season 1’s Episode 9, where the past catches up to the present on the night of Sam’s death.
Annalise and Nate meet up in secret, eventually leading to Nate pulling a similar move but with no injury to Annalise. Her back was fine, even though she would have to do plenty of heavy lifting to help the Keating Five get away with their crime. The one-time injury Davis suffered didn’t stop her from crediting her role as Annalise Keating asone that she is most proud ofin a career with acting credits that have given her awards and secured her a prestigious spotas an EGOT winner.
‘How to Get Away with Murder’ Was an Important Role for Viola Davis
As part ofThe Hollywood Reporter Roundtable for Emmy-nominated actressesin 2015, Davis saidshe felt something “bigger than fear” when joiningHow to Get Away with Murderbecause of how she looked on-screen. She had not seen a “forty-nine-year-old, dark skin woman, who was not a size 2, be a sexualized role in TV, film, anywhere.” But she then realized there was an opportunity to “put a real woman on TV that’s smack-dab in the midst of this pop fiction.” That liberating feeling made Davis own the character, and her performance would become an explosive and complex TV role, perfect for her talents.
Getting clients a “not guilty” verdict, and covering up whatever next crime is committed by the Keating Five are just as crucial to Annalise Keating as the intimate moments where she takes off her wig or indulges in her love life. And if it was the only performance she ever did, she would still deserve a shoutout fromTimothée Chalametwhenhe won a top SAG awardand shared at the podium that his inspirations are “Daniel Day-Lewis,Marlon Brando, and Viola Davis” in his pursuit to achieve greatness in his career.Annalise Keating is a powerhouse character with a rawness on and off the screen.Viola Davis, speaking about her back injury and her early self-criticism in taking the part, is as deeply human as Keating, who can spiral into intense vulnerability or steel herself to again figure out how her students and herself could get away with murder.
How to Get Away With Murder
