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TVLine's Performer of the Week: Viola Davis

Robyn McCall

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A weekly feature in which we spotlight shining stars
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THE PERFORMER | Viola Davis


THE SHOW | How to Get Away With Murder

THE EPISODE | “Let’s Get to Scooping“


THE AIRDATE | October 16, 2014




THE PERFORMANCE | Much has been said about the boldness and bravery of Davis’ performance in this week’s episode of How to Get Away With Murder. And indeed, in a TV landscape where characters go to bed, wake up, and even pull through surgeries, comas and traumatic accidents with their foundation, blush and eyeshadow in resplendent condition, there was a wonderful audacity in the way Davis stripped her character bare of jewelry, wig and makeup right there on camera. (That the Oscar-nominated actress recently found herself described as “less classically beautiful” than Kerry Washington and Halle Berry in a dumbfoundingly tone-deaf New York Times piece made her lack of vanity all the more impressive.)


The real thrill of the performance, however, went much deeper than surface-level trappings. As her powerful law professor Annalise Keating removed her glamorous armor, Davis allowed us to see deeply into the psyche of a woman who — through the first few episodes of ABC’s new Thursday-night smash — has been all but unknowable.


In the last few minutes of “Let’s Get to Scooping,” Annalise confirmed that her sexy husband Sam had (once again) cheated on her with one of his students — only in this case, the coed in question was murder victim Lila Stangard. Without a single word of dialogue, Davis made us understand the depth of the betrayal felt by Annalise — the hurt that Sam had strayed, the disgust in herself for having believed his lies, the exhaustion of being a part of their fractured union, the anxiety over having to decide how to proceed (especially since she happens to be the defense attorney for one of Lila’s accused killers). Wiping away her cosmetics with a moist towelette, and removing her sleek auburn locks to reveal her natural close-cropped curls, Annalise came face-to-face with her bare self, compartmentalized her heartbreak and reclaimed her power as an unsuspecting Sam returned home and strolled into their bedroom suite.


“Why is your penis on a dead girl’s phone?” Annalise asked flatly, holding up a screen showing her husband’s muscular, disembodied torso. It was breathtaking conclusion to an hour of gasp-inducing television — and a reminder that while Annalise may indeed be human, she’s a scarily formidable one. In other words, stealing a catchphrase from the great philosopher Beyoncé, Annalise — and the actress who plays her — woke up like this…flawless.






http://tvline.com/2014/10/18/viola-davis-how-to-get-away-with-murder-makeup-wig-performance-htgawm/
 

E l l a

the moon is full, my bed is empty
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Lol @ the great philosopher Beyoncé

Congrats to Viola. I hope she wins an Emmy for it. It was a powerful scene
 

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