Viola Davis takes on a challenging role as law professor and defense attorney Annalise Keating on Shonda Rhimes' new Thursday night series "How to Get Away with Murder." You cannot expect any less from Rhimes, the creator of "Scandal," who takes the meaning of a woman in power to the next level.

Davis has been recently known for her beloved and endearing character of maid Aibileen Clark in 2011's "The Help" and her last recurring TV role in "United States of Tara." She was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her role as Aibileen Clark. She has also proven superiority in her roles in the films "Ender's Game," "Prisoners," "Doubt" and "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" amongst many others.

But Davis will be re-creating herself as she takes on a much more challenging character with Annalise.

Keating "leads her Criminal Law 101 students by example in encouraging them to explore all angles of their cases, until a group of them become embroiled in a scandal that tests Keating's own professional and personal loyalties."

"I dove at [this role]. I love the fact that she's messy and mysterious. She's not necessarily nurturing and 'Come sit on my lap so I can talk to you, baby,'" Davis said during a summer 2014 Television Critics Association interview. "She's a woman. She's sexual. She's vulnerable. I wanted a character that took me out of my comfort zone." Davis indeed has found a character that will once again wow audiences with her intensity and powerfulness.

"Davis is mysterious and tantalizing as Keating, showing deep layers of complexity and intrigue as she uses her smarts and sexiness to get what she wants," says ABC News San Francisco.

"How to Get Away with Murder" premieres on Sept. 25 at 10 p.m. on ABC. Also costarring are Matt McGorry from "Orange Is the New Black" and Alfred Enoch from "Harry Potter."