Kerry Washington seems to be taking the world by storm. She’s currently starring in the Hit US Drama Scandal, which sees her playing a very strong female – one who can even wrap the president around her little finger.
Speaking to Vanity Fair in the August issue, she explains why she thinks Olivia is such an important character and the TV show is reaching out people.
“It’s especially profound in a place like South Africa,” she says. “It’s called The Fixer over there, and it just started its second season. The fact that white women can see this woman of color as an aspirational character is revolutionary, I think, in the medium of television. I don’t think white women would feel that way about Olivia if her identity as a woman, period, wasn’t first in their mind.”
Unlike many teenagers who turn 18 and have a huge party or buy a car, Kerry celebrated being of legal age to vote. “My becoming a voting citizen was celebrated the way other people would celebrate a Sweet 16,” she says. “My parents took me out to dinner, and we talked about who I was going to vote for.”
You can tell that she feels very strongly about her job and the character she plays. “What I think is cool about Olivia is that she fully owns being a woman,” she explains to the magazine. “There’s a very nurturing sense of ‘I’m going to take care of you—don’t worry about it. I’m gonna be your mom in this situation. You come stay in my office, have a cup of tea, and let my gladiators take care of you.’ There’s something very maternal about it. But there’s also something very executive about her, and I mean ‘executive’ in a presidential way.”
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Posted by Amy Power.
