43rd Toronto International Film Festival – Widows – Press Conference
Featuring: Viola Davis
Where: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
When: 09 Sep 2018
Credit: Regina Wagner/Future Image/WENN.com
**Not available for publication in Germany**
You haven’t lived if you haven’t had this Viola Davis as a weary Annalise Keating from How to Get Away With Murder gif sent to you:
It’s the perfect way to describe how you feel when you’re outdone by something, or you’ve had your time wasted. Hence the reason it fits so well as this meme:
And while we’ve all seen it and burst out laughing, if you’ve ever wondered if Davis has actually seen it, the answer is yes. She laughs at it, too.
During a recent interview to promote her upcoming Steve McQueen film, Widows, the Oscar winner was asked if she was aware of all of the gifs and memes her character has inspired.
“Yes, she’s got a lot of memes [laughs],” she said. “Once again, it’s because she’s raw, straight, no chaser. She’s not someone who edits herself.”
And the particular gif of her picking up her bag and getting the hell out of dodge is something she often notices in her timeline.
“That one I see all of the time [laughs],” she said. “I’m always thinking, ‘When did I do that?’ And then I remember when I did and I’m like, ‘Why did I have to do it like that?’”
She thinks people love that gif because they want to express themselves in the unabashed way that Keating does.
“I think because she doesn’t edit herself, she’s not afraid to be unlikable, she’s not afraid to cuss somebody out, she’s not afraid to be messy, ugly, all of those things, I think that’s a fantasy of most women.”
But, perhaps, her interviewer, Will King, put it best when it comes to why the scene is a go-to image in messages everywhere: “And because you’re a very expressive actress.”
