Viola Davis’s Iconic Wig Moment

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Picture this: it’s 2014 and the soon-to-be-hit show How to Get Away with Murder is on. Viola Davis’s character Annalise Keating is at her vanity table after coming home from work. She takes off her wig, her eyelashes and her makeup. She finishes by putting lotion on her hands and neck. Iconic—in more ways than one.

First off, the scene is much deeper than just getting undone after coming home. For many Black women, hiding their natural hair is part of their job, or as Angela Mackie-Rutledge puts it, “revenue protection.” Annalise Keating is in a job where some feel like they have to change their hair to fit in with the white majority. Actresses like Sanaa Lathan have talked about how Black actresses have felt pressured to hide their natural hair. this leads to her wearing a wig and makeup while she works. It is aptly described as her “armour” by Quinci LeGardye from Marie Claire and Shania Russell from Slash Film.

This scene was one thing that Davis herself felt was necessary for the show. The show’s creator Peter Nowalk says, “Viola’s one request when she agreed to be on the show was to see Annalise without her wig.” Nowalk continues to describe Davis as both a genius actor and a genius storyteller.

For Davis, this scene is “a bold choice to ground Annalise in reality.” It invited viewers to see Annalise Keating as a rounded character who, like many, physically separates her private self from her public self. This choice was a way to push against the norms of a character having “a glossiness that has no resemblance to life.” This was a scene for the viewers, even outside of the Black crowd.

As LeGardye pointed out in her article, a character like Annalise Keating would normally be portrayed by a man, typically White. Vulture’s Diane Gordon reports on Davis’s decision to take the role at a For Your Consideration panel. Davis says, “When someone is described as sexual and mysterious and complicated and messy, you don’t think of me.” She knows what it’s like to have someone fit her into a mold.

Davis attended Juilliard School—a prestigious arts (music, dance and drama) academy. While speaking with Diana Evans for The Guardian, Davis is very critical of Juilliard and its “crushing white-centrism, its desire to create the ‘perfect White actor’.” Her critique is that the school imposes the rigid way it thinks actors should go—the White way. Having such inflexible criteria leaves little room for actors of colour to express themselves their way.

It was with all this knowledge that she asked Nowalk to include the wig removal scene.

Davis is a great actress, and she knows that. To her, Annalise Keating is a character that “[reflects] the full scope of [her] talent.” She got to play a lead role in a popular show as opposed to “being the third girl from the left.” The scene was also “…showing an image that isn’t palatable to the oppressor.” This is a scene that speaks loud and clear to its audience without having any dialogue. Despite Juilliard trying to train her to be a White actress, Davis showed her range as a powerful Black actress.

The online natural hair movement was very popular in the 2010s. By 2014, the community would be heavily embracing their natural hair. A scene like this was validating to any Black woman whose hair held high value to them. Many women would wear a wig as a form of protection. These women can also relate to the routine of taking everything off after a long day.

As an actress with great talent and over 20 years of acting experience, it makes sense that this scene came from Viola Davis. For her efforts, she has become one of four Black holders of the coveted title of ‘EGOT’ (Primetime Emmy, Grammy, Academy Award/Oscar, Tony). She won an Emmy in 2015, a Grammy in 2023, an Oscar in 2017 and two Tonys, one in 2001 and again in 2010.

Davis has the accolades to show that she knows what she’s doing. This wig scene pulled no punches, and it delivered the message that it needed to. For everyone’s sake, let’s hope she keeps posing great suggestions and has the right people listening to her.