Laurel Castillo

Laurel Castillo is a fictional character created in 2014 by Peter Nowalk for the American Broadcasting Company(ABC) legal drama mystery television series How to Get Away with Murder. Portrayed by Karla Souza she is one of the series' main characters. Castillo is a Philadelphia-based law student, who works as an intern for the law firm of Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) as one of the "Keating Five".

Casting

Karla Souza was cast as a series regular in the Shonda Rhimes-produced legal drama series How to Get Away with Murder as law student Laurel Castillo, opposite Viola Davis.

Background

Laurel doesn't get along with her family as she has made it clear on multiple occasions. Laurel has a strained relationship with her father after her parents divorced following her mother's emotional breakdown. In season 3, it was revealed Laurel was kidnapped when she was 16 and her father refused to pay the ransom. Laurel took back her statement saying she was kidnapped to recant her father.

Laurel is bilingual and a Latina who primarily speaks Spanish with her family.

Development

Characterization

Laurel Castillo was shown as a quiet and sensitive woman in the earlier episodes of the show. Owing to her silent nature, she managed to stay under the radar and gets underestimated by her classmates. It has been shown that Laurel possesses the ability to pay attention to minor details, often ignored by others, and a sharp thinking. She is much darker and intelligent than anyone realizes, including Annalise Keating.

In How to Get Away With Murder

In the pilot episode, Laurel is introduced as a first-year law student at Middleton University, in Philadelphia. On the first day on school, she is reprimanded by Professor Annalise (Viola Davis) for answering when not asked and "taking away a learning opportunity from another student". Being an idealist who wants to help the less fortunate, she learns quickly that Annalise and her firm doesn't care about whether their client is guilty or not which makes her angry. Laurel is chosen as one of the students to assist Annalise at her firm but it soon becomes clear that Frank (Charlie Weber) influenced that decision.

In "We're Not Friends", thanks to her quick thinking, Laurel is able to help Annalise in a case of a teenager who killed his abusive father. After Sam (Tom Verica) is killed by Wes (Alfred Enoch) while saving Rebecca (Katie Findlay), Laurel stays the most calm and helps Wes in disposing the body while making Connor (Jack Falahee) and Michaela (Aja Naomi King) understand. She goes against both of them and tells Annalise that they are going to confess to the murder.

She gets into a relationship with Frank while still dating Kan but she breaks it off after learning Frank already has a girlfriend. Eventually she starts dating Frank and falls in love with him. In the later episodes, it is revealed she has a strained relationship with her father but she tries to take his help when Frank goes missing. In the final episodes of season 3, it is revealed Laurel is pregnant with Wes' child.

Relationships

In "Smile, Or Go To Jail", Laurel goes to a bar with the Keating 5 and other law students, where she meets Kan, another law student who works in legal aid. Frank comes to bar to see Laurel but gets disappointed seeing her with Kan and leaves. Laurel learns later that Frank was there when Asher casually talks about it.

References