Kerry Washington — Acting as a Devotional Practice
Sep 28, 2023
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Kerry Washington, a 'learning actor' known for her elegance and moral rigor in various roles, discusses acting as a devotional practice. Topics range from her experiences in bringing racially mixed audiences together to the impact of 'Scandal' on representation and diversity. She also delves into emotional reactions, the dehumanizing aspect of recognition, motherhood, and interracial relationships. A rich and insightful conversation on the evolution of the roles we play in our lives.
Kerry Washington reflects on the challenges and evolution of being a celebrity, emphasizing the importance of embracing our messy humanity and seeking understanding and connection.
Through her memoir, Washington highlights the power of truth telling and the impact it has on relationships, emphasizing the importance of embracing complexities and wounds to foster understanding, growth, and healing.
Washington emphasizes the role of art in reflecting and connecting humanity, advocating for creating space to appreciate and accept each other's humanity and fostering empathy and growth.
Deep dives
Carrie Washington's Journey as an Actor and Human Being
Carrie Washington reflects on her journey as an actor, exploring how she evolved and grew through various roles and experiences. She shares insights about the challenges and opportunities of being a celebrity, including the loss of privacy and the pressure to maintain a flawless image. Washington also discusses the significance of exploring characters that embody vulnerability, such as the role of Kendra in the play American Son, and how it allowed her to delve into the complexities of motherhood and interracial relationships. She emphasizes the importance of embracing the messy humanity in ourselves and others, seeking understanding and connection instead of division. Washington's personal journey and dedication to uncovering the truth within her roles inspire a broader conversation about humanity, empathy, and acceptance.
The Power of Unconditional Love and Truth Telling
Through her memoir, Thicker Than Water, Carrie Washington discusses the power of truth telling and the impact it has on relationships. She shares how the revelation of her biological father not being her parent enabled her to see her parents' vulnerability and understand their fear of losing her love. This experience became an opportunity for Caroline unconditional love and strengthen their connection. Washington reflects on the importance of embracing the complexities and wounds that shape individuals, even those who have done harm, as a way to foster understanding, growth, and healing.
The Role of Art in Reflecting and Connecting Humanity
Carrie Washington highlights the role of art in reflecting and connecting humanity. She emphasizes the importance of storytelling in various art forms, such as literature, music, theater, film, and television, as a means to explore and deepen our understanding of ourselves and others. Washington's focus on portraying authentic characters and delving into their emotional truths allows audiences to see and know themselves more. She advocates for creating space to appreciate and accept each other's humanity, fostering a sense of belonging and unconditional acceptance that transcends societal divisions and enables empathy and growth.
The Journey of Becoming Who We Are
Carrie Washington delves into the journey of self-discovery and explores how we become who we are. By reflecting on her own experiences and her role as an actor, she emphasizes the importance of asking questions and seeking to understand ourselves and others. Washington urges us to move away from labeling people as good guys or bad guys, recognizing that everyone is shaped by their wounds and experiences. Embracing our own messiness and accepting the messiness of others allows for greater empathy, connection, and the opportunity to listen and appreciate each other's humanity.
The Complexity of Motherhood and Interracial Relationships
Carrie Washington discusses the exploration of motherhood and interracial relationships in her roles, such as Kendra in American Son. She shares how these roles challenged traditional notions of power and agency, allowing her to embody vulnerability and the complexities inherent in raising a black child. Washington emphasizes the importance of understanding the specific challenges faced by black parents and the vulnerability they experience due to systemic racism. Through her art, she seeks to shed light on these experiences and foster empathy and dialogue among diverse audiences.
“Becoming other people” for a living, as Kerry Washington likes to describe her craft, turns out to be a revelatory lens on the high drama that is the human condition. As a “learning actor,” a kind of actor/anthropologist, she has brought elegance and moral rigor to all kinds of roles: as the uber-glamorous, tough-as-nails Olivia Pope on Scandal; as the wife of Idi Amin and the wife of Ray Charles; from Little Fires Everywhere to Django Unchained. Just after Scandal ended seven triumphant seasons, she starred on Broadway as Kendra, a jeans-clad mother in a Miami police station waiting to hear what has happened to her beloved son. Krista was in that audience, and saw how Kerry attended not just to her role on stage but to bringing a beautifully racially mixed audience to participating and reflecting together.
So this conversation has been a while in coming. It is rich with grace and surprising angles of insight — on the roles we all learn to play in the stories of the lives that we are given, and the evolution that is possible in how we assume those characters and leave them behind and grow them up.
This episode of On Being was produced with consideration of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike and with external legal guidance. In distributing this episode, we attest to our belief that no statements made involve promotion of struck work in violation of the SAG-AFTRA Strike Order.
Kerry Washington is the author of a new memoir, Thicker Than Water, and founder of the production company Simpson Street. Her many credits include the television series Little Fires Everywhere, the Broadway play — and Netflix film — American Son, and the film Django Unchained. She starred as Olivia Pope on seven seasons of the hit TV series Scandal.
