Portrayed by Liza Weil Occupation Associate attorney Status Alive Significant other Asher Millstone | Gender Female Nationality American Played by Liza Weil Created by Peter Nowalk | |
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Title Bonnie Winterbottom, Esq. First appearance "Pilot" (1.01), (September 25, 2014) TV show How to Get Away with Murder Similar Laurel Castillo, Asher Millstone, Michaela Pratt, Wes Gibbins, Frank Delfino | ||
Bonnie Winterbottom is a fictional character created in 2014 by Peter Nowalk. Portrayed by Liza Weil, she is a Philadelphia-based associate attorney who works for Annalise Keating's firm, and one of the main characters developed for the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) legal drama mystery television series How to Get Away with Murder.
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Casting
On February 27, 2014, it was announced that Shonda Rhimes had cast Liza Weil in the role of Bonnie Winterbottom.
Characterization and introduction
Early in the series, Bonnie was portrayed as a sweet and responsible adult. However, over the course of the series, her personal life collapses, and Bonnie finds herself facing numerous problems. She was pressed by Annalise, who wanted her to work more and more, and was involved in a fateful relationship with Analise's intern Asher Millstone. Bonnie's portrayer, Liza Weil, said the character is a grown-up woman and Weil's first role as a "serious lady." Bonnie had a terrifying past; her father sexually abused her when she was a girl.
In an interview with Variety, series creator, Peter Nowalk, commented on Bonnie's future of Bonnie for season 3: "Bonnie is going to have to choose sides, basically. Bonnie is like, Annalise, we can forgive Frank, it was Sam's fault! She's trying to be the peacemaker," he said, regarding the season 2 finale.
Relationships
Bonnie was romantically linked with Asher Millstone, one of the Annalise Keating's interns. They had sex for the first time the night Sam was killed, then again after Bonnie won her first case in court. They broke up when Bonnie suspected Asher of seeing another woman, not knowing he was behaving strangely because he was being blackmailed by Emily Sinclair. Their relationship ended permanantly when Bonnie discovered Asher's role in a gang-rape coverup and learned Annalise had revealed Bonnie's past trauma to him.
Bonnie's relationship with Frank Delfino is special and complex; they help each other with their problems and are always available to each other, although the extent of their history remains unclear. When Bonnie discovered that Frank killed Lila, she lied to Annalise and covered up the whole story. They talked about running away together and then had sex a few days after Frank killed Bonnie's abusive father, but Frank abandoned Bonnie the next morning, creating a rift between them. Bonnie later convinced Frank not to kill himself by telling him that night meant everything to her, and expressing her love for him, but she later asked him to take the blame for all the crimes, causing him to ask if she was lying when she said she loved him.
Bonnie has a love-hate relationship with Annalise Keating. In the season 2, it is revealed that Bonnie killed Rebecca Sutter in order to protect Annalise. Later, when Bonnie discovered that Annalise had revealed Bonnie's past to Asher, Bonnie said she wanted Annalise dead. However, when Annalise was shot, Bonnie helped her in many ways. Since then, Bonnie has remained Annalise's right-hand woman and closest associate.
Bonnie told Annalise she loved her after they fought about Bonnie's relationship with Frank, although it's not clear whether she meant platonic or romantic love. They kissed when Annalise was drunk on the day of the fire. Bonnie represented Annalise when Annalise was charged with murder and arson, even though Bonnie offered to get another attorney to take the case.