Kerry Washington: Power, Perfection & Olivia Pope

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Lori's going to watch this and be like at home screaming like, Brian, did you hear Kerry Washington just say my name? No, no, no. Thank you. They really gave you, they have given you permission that you have then like taken on. I mean, you are your own beast. I don't want to take anything away from you. But without them, I couldn't have achieved what I have achieved.

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And so to, yes, have a mother that was watching with me being like, look at this woman, look what she is embodying and what she's doing, to now sit across from you, it's very surreal for me. So thank you for taking time out of your day to join me on this show.

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And also on the marketing side, like we had that whole idea of live tweet the like I can do everything in my power to try to make it a success, but in the end I can't control what happens. That's a great point. And in those beginning days, like what qualities did you love about her when you first read the material?

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So when I first read it, I literally threw the script across the room because I was like, this is me. Like, it felt like it was written for me. It was, but also like there were 20 other actresses that felt the same way. So I had to audition multiple times. But I think what I loved about her was, it's so funny because this is very related to the show I have coming out now as well.

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What I loved about her was that she had the presentation of power. Like she performed well.

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power in the world and she was very powerful but also behind closed doors there was this contradiction of being like so heartbroken and like her personal life was a mess just a mess a little bit yes and so that that dynamic that duality i really identified with i really identified with like the presentation of self versus the truth of self

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I love that too, because I agree, which we're gonna get to your new show. It's like the presentation of a woman, most people just take that at face value. And it's like, that's never, it's never as it seems. We're so much more complicated and cool than that. We have more going on. Please, of course we do. In what ways did she challenge you in those beginning days?

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And also, I think going back to what you had said of like it had almost been 40 years. since we had seen a black woman have a role lead in a drama network television show. So this pressure on you, I remember reading like the network said casting you as a lead was a risk and Shonda was so, so open about wanting you as that person. Like how did those comments affect both of you though?

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I can't speak for Shonda. But we knew that we we knew that we were lucky to have each other, that we, you know, so often in these spaces, you're the only woman in the room or the only black woman in the room. And so to be able to have each other and then Judy Smith, who inspired the character and another really amazing writer in the writers from Ramla Mohammed, who is kind of.

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We've grown up together because she was a research assistant initially on Scandal. And then I brought her with me to Little Fires Everywhere. And now she's the showrunner on Reasonable Doubt, which we produce. So that's been also really special. You're keeping your people close, yeah. So that dynamic, I think Shonda and I were like, we had each other. We had each other's backs.

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And there was always a great deal of respect. I knew she was my boss. But she would also say to me, like, I want your thoughts, right? But I would say like four things that I loved about a script before I ever gave any feedback that was to change something. Right. And I wasn't manufacturing that. It was really like there's so much that I love about this.

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And also there's this one thing I'm bumping on. And like now, obviously, we know it's such a success. But and and. In that moment, hearing from executives like this is a risk. Then you have success. Like, was there any part of you that was so happy to be able to prove people wrong?

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Olivia would. If you had to choose, what was the hottest Olivia and Fitz moment? If I had to choose... I think... I think the hottest Olivia and Fitz moment was the first time, and this was Ava DuVernay's episode, the first time we got to go to Vermont. I just think that house was so beautiful. The helicopter landing on the lawn.

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I think that whole moment was just so beyond dreamy and that we got to actually see Vermont was pretty spectacular, which was really Calabasas, not Vermont. Stop. Wait, stop. I'm like, you never told me that. What are you talking about? No, you're in Vermont. Oh my God. Making jam. Oh my God. I can't unsee that now. Okay. You have your phone. Yes.

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Would you call Tony and ask him what he thinks his favorite go-to iconic romantic moment of the two of you was? He might be on set. Let's try it. Let's try. If not, I'll tell you mine. Way less interesting. Well, you have to tell me yours regardless. He's going to think something's wrong. He's like, why is she calling? I only, I must know. Hi, Keri. Hi, Tony. Hi.

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I'm in the middle of an interview. Yes. And I got dared to call you. So I have to ask you a question. Are you ready? Should I say uh-oh? Yeah, you should always say uh-oh. Where are you right now? Just give the fans some context. Where are you? I'm in Washington, D.C. Of course you are. We're doing X. My kids are here in Jane's.

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It's one of the very few scenes that Olivia Pope wore a dress because the way the scene was written, we had to like to in the closet. It had to be a dress. So it's like one of those really, I guess for like events in churches, maybe she wears. So it was a baptism. So she had a dress on. So then in the closet, we could do what we did in the closet. It's insane.

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What is a personal moment in your life? You got a little clout because people around you, your kids were there and everyone thought you were Olivia Pope. They're talking to you as Olivia Pope and your kids are like, Oh mom, you're actually cool. So I would think I would, my kids do. Let me be very clear. My kids do not think I'm cool. There's,

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be very clear, because they will have like go on a national campaign to refute me if I attempt to assert that they think I'm cool. They do not think I'm cool. But they were my daughter. So my daughter's first concert was T Swift. And which was very sweet. This is my younger daughter. And we went with her older sister and a bunch of friends. But then I was like,

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okay Beyonce's performing in this same place later this summer like as a black mom there is no way that I'm not letting you see a black woman do in this space what Taylor Swift did in this space so she wasn't yeah she was a little young because it was renaissance so she wasn't like a huge she like knew Destiny's Child songs but she wasn't renaissance wasn't really like her album she came and

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when we were walking through the crowd, people were like, Olivia. And she was like, who is Olivia? Like she, she was like, what, who do they think you are? Like, that is not your name. And it was a little weird to her how crazy people were going until backstage at like the friends and family were set. First of all, she loved the concert.

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Like that was the night I witnessed my youngest daughter become a Stan, like a Beyonce beehive. Like she was like, Blown away. Yeah. And then Cowboy Carter is her album. We had a girls weekend in Vegas to see her together. You're like, you're welcome. So yes. I put you on. Exactly. But that night we went backstage to the friends and family thing afterward.

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One of the most impactful moments on Scandal was when Olivia Pope had an abortion. And when I interviewed Shonda, she told me that the network pushed back on that storyline and she really had to fight to keep it in. We didn't know if we were going to air that night. Like down to the wire. I was like, what are they going to do? Are they going to like show reruns?

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Because they were locked in the disagreement about what it could and could not be. So you literally sat there and waited to see if it aired. Yeah. What did it feel like for you to be at the center of that moment publicly and privately with the network and everything? I was so proud. I was so proud of Shonda. I was so proud of our whole cast. I was so proud to have shot that scene.

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There had been characters on television who had had abortions, but it was the first time that you got to watch a woman actually in the procedure. and obviously there was nothing graphic about the scene, but it was about her inner life and her emotional reality in that process.

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And I just, as somebody who had had an abortion and as somebody who has fought for reproductive rights my whole life, it feels like, I was so, so proud. I know I was going to say in your memoir, like you open up about your abortion in your late 20s and so many people connected to you.

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But going back to that moment, like what emotions did you feel not only writing about your experience, but then also releasing it to the world? OK, so first I want to say that I watch a lot of clips of the show, like a lot of people, like I catch parts of the show. The episode that I love the most that I watched beginning to end was your trip to North Carolina.