Annalise Keating Esq. (née Anna-Mae Harkness) is a fictional character in the legal drama series How to Get Away with Murder. Series creator Peter Nowalk is responsible for creating and developing the character, and American actress Viola Davis portrays Keating since the show's inception. Annalise is introduced as a complex, high-profile criminal defense attorney and law professor at Middleton University who maintains social prestige and navigates through university politics. The series' main narrative starts when Annalise chooses five of her students to work with her and they get in the middle of a murder case. Throughout the series' course, Annalise is very protective of her students, who become her allies, and is balancing between her personal life and the public scrutiny.
