Photo: (Getty)
Listen up, gladiators! Kerry Washington is on the latest cover of The Hollywood Reporter, and she's not holding anything back. Olivia Pope might be up to her white hat in drama on "Scandal," but it sounds like Washington has to deal with drama IRL, too! In the interview, the actress talks being too "ethnic" for certain roles, why she's involved in politics, and getting threats on Twitter.
THR rounded up some of TV's most dramatic actresses for its cover which put Washington in the same room as "Breaking Bad's" Anna Gunn, "Parenthood's" Monica Potter, "Nashville's" Connie Britton, "Mad Men's" Elisabeth Moss, and "House of Card's" Kate Mara. The actresses talked about the worst jobs they had before making it big on the small screen, how much say they have in what their characters do, and more. When the conversation turned to audition experiences, it was clear Washington had faced different challenges when going out for roles.
Photo: (The Hollywood Reporter)
Britton admitted she's "never had somebody say to me that I needed to look a certain way for a role," but that she dreads it because it's the actresses "responsibility to play these full-fledged women, and to play women who look like people we actually see in life." Washington, however, said she's been told after auditioning that the team decided they're "not going 'ethnic' with a character." The actress goes on to say that while some actresses could lose weight, "there's nothing I can do, nor would I want to, about being black."
The "Scandal" actress, who live tweets her show's new episodes along with the audience, also was introduced to some of the challenges of being politically active while being in the public eye. Washington refuses to apologize for her political activism, explaining that a lot of people "fought for me to have the right as a woman to be able to participate, and as a person of color."
Her onscreen counterpart Olivia Pope is embroiled in political scandals day in and day out, but Washington found herself facing threats in real life after speaking at the Democratic National Convention. She recalled that she "couldn't go near any of it (Twitter) because there were threats to my life, sexism and racism" after the convention. As for how she dealt with all the haters? She just pressed the block button, of course!
We love that the actress, who is a board member on the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, is using her platform to speak out about race and politics. If you're dealing with haters online, take Washington's advice and just ignore them. For more tips, take action below.
