The "Walking Like Annalise" Challenge Is Taking Over TikTok — How Did Viola Davis React?
The Walking Like Annalise Challenge is the latest challenge to make the rounds on TikTok, in a reference to Viola Davis's 'HTGAWM' character.
Nov. 4 2021, Published 11:59 a.m. ET
Law students have been flocking to TikTok to showcase their best takes on the power walk coined by the protagonist of How to Get Away With Murder, Annalise Keating — and Viola Davis, the actress who portrayed Annalise, seems to have taken notice.
The latest TikTok challenge, dubbed the Walking Like Annalise Challenge, calls on TikTokers to demonstrate their most impassioned strut — all in the name of proving that Annalise's legacy isn't about to fade. What does the trend entail?
The Walking Like Annalise Challenge encourages TikTokers to perfect their Annalise Keating impressions.
An iconic protagonist, Annalise Keating garnered unmatched popularity thanks to her iconic mannerisms and daredevil attitude. A rock star and a legal professor rolled into one, she has served as an inspiration for generations of TV show lovers and wannabe legal beagles out there.
Although HTGAWM concluded in the fall of 2020, the show isn't about to disappear from cultural memory. Want proof? Let's take a look at the Walking Like Annalise Challenge.
For the Walking Like Annalise Challenge, TikTokers have to perfect their finest power walk — which, technically, is the inverse of the power walk — and show off their best take on the sequence of movements involving hunched shoulders, tense muscles, and some feet shuffling.
A true statement, the walk far surpasses your standard post-lunch-break amble or the manic dash to the meeting that's just about to kick off.
The TikTokers who have already responded to the Walking Like Annalise Challenge include Marc’s FaceTime (@themarcfromtiktok), Camryn Miles (@camrynamiles), and many others.
The highlight of most videos is the walk, which usually involves exaggerated bodily movements, a liberal amount of gawkishness, and hunching. Which, intriguingly, works as a representation of power.
The TikTokers partaking in the challenge are using "I'm obsessed," an upload by @cruelvelo. The use of hashtags like #violadavis and #htgawm isn't uncommon.
The Walking Like Annalise Challenge has caught the eyes of actress Viola Davis too.
The award-winning actress posted a brief tweet acknowledging the Walking Like Annalise Challenge on Oct. 23, 2021.
"I see y'all #AnnaliseKeating #HTGAWM," she captioned a short clip of a talk she gave as part of the PaleyLive Los Angeles 2019.
"I want to be a real woman," Viola told the crowds assembled at PaleyLive Los Angeles. "If I could be a real woman, if I don't have to walk around in heels. I know y'all talking about me walking in my heels. And that's a little f----d up of y'all."
"I wanted to take off my wig because I said if I take off my wig, then you have to deal with that s--- that you see underneath it. Then you have to write that and not write the tight a-- and the sex scenes," she added, explaining, "You'd have to write a real woman."
As she emphasized, she had little interest in playing an overly feminine, easily idealized character, focusing on a woman who gets what she wants without conforming to stodgy stereotypes.
