Calling the wig part of her character Annalise's mask, the actress says the show needed to deal with her real hair because she 'thought it would be very powerful.'
- Oct 18, 2014
AceShowbiz - The latest episode of "How to Get Away with Murder" becomes talk of the town not only because of the plot twist, but also the wardrobe change undergone by Viola Davis' Annalise Keating. It turned out the actress pitched the idea of revealing her natural look as series creator Peter Nowalk tweeted, "In our very first convo @violadavis pitched a scene where we see Annalise take off her wig. #inspiring #breathtaking #gifted #HTGAWM."
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Davis explained the need to show her real hair on the show. "When I first read the script, I was so excited, because it was my idea that I pitched to Peter Nowalk before I even took the job. I said, 'The only way I can play someone this hard is for something to be peeled away each week, and the first thing that needs to go is the wig.' I just wanted to deal with her hair."
She continued, "It's a big thing with African-American women, in a way that's far more complicated than I can possibly tell you over the phone. You start when you're just a young girl. Do you twist it? Do you leave it natural when it's so hard to take care of? Then you start wearing wigs but every night before bed you've got to take the wig off and deal with your hair underneath. And it's a part of Annalise that I needed the writers to deal with because I've never seen it, ever, on TV and I thought it would be very powerful. It's part of her mask."
The Oscar-nominated actress added, "Often you get a television gig and you feel like all that stuff has to be taken off the table because it's not attractive. It's not sleek or pretty or any of those things that make TV compelling. I'm not interested in doing that as an actress. I'm interested in the mess. What is not pretty. That, at its core, is what makes us human. And that's what makes people sit forward in their chair. Because we want to see ourselves in those moments."
"Even for anyone who's Caucasian, women in general are taking their makeup off before bed, putting in their retainers, removing their bra, and they are who they are, stretchmarks and all. That's not cute, but it has value and I want to explore that."
Asked how she perceived her character, Davis shared, "Without giving too much away, when I created her, I felt that at her core she was antithetical to what she appeared to be. I pictured her being awkward, not knowing how to be accessible to people in her personal life. I don't think she has a whole lot of friends. Whether it's the heels or the wig she wears, I see everything as a complete and total front."
"How to Get Away with Murder" airs Thursday at 10/9c on ABC.
"How to Get Away with Murder" 1.05 Preview:
