Kerry Washington facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kerry Washington
Washington in 2013
Born	Kerry Marisa Washington (1977-01-31) January 31, 1977 (age 47) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	George Washington University
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1994–present
Spouse(s)	Nnamdi Asomugha ​ (m. 2013)​
Children	2
Awards	Full list

Kerry Marisa Washington (born January 31, 1977) is an American actress. She gained wide public recognition for starring as crisis management expert Olivia Pope in the ABC drama series Scandal (2012–2018). For her role, she was twice nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and once for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama. Her portrayal of Anita Hill in the HBO television political thriller film Confirmation (2016), and her role as Mia Warren in the Hulu miniseries Little Fires Everywhere (2020), both earned nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie.

In film, Washington is known for her roles as Della Bea Robinson in Ray (2004), as Kay in The Last King of Scotland (2006), as Alicia Masters in the live-action Fantastic Four films of 2005 and 2007, and as Broomhilda von Shaft in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (2012). She has also starred in the independent films Our Song (2000), The Dead Girl (2006), Mother and Child (2009), Night Catches Us (2010), and American Son (2019).

Time magazine included Washington in its Time 100 list of most influential people in 2014. In 2018, Forbes named her the eighth highest-paid television actress. Washington has won a Primetime Emmy Award and five NAACP Image Awards, including The President's Award.

Early life and education

Washington was born in the Bronx, New York City, the daughter of Valerie, a professor and educational consultant, and Earl Washington, a real estate broker. Her father's family is of African American origin, having moved from South Carolina to Brooklyn. Her mother's family is from Manhattan, and Washington has said that her mother is from a "mixed-race background and from Jamaica, so she is partly English and Scottish and Native American, but also descended from enslaved Africans in the Caribbean." Through her mother, she is a cousin of former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Washington performed with the TADA! Youth Theater teen group and attended the Spence School in Manhattan from her pre-teen years until graduating from high school in 1994. At the age of 13, she was taken to watch Nelson Mandela speak at Yankee Stadium upon his release from prison. She attended George Washington University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1998 with a double major in anthropology and sociology. She also studied at Michael Howard Studios in New York City.

In April 2016, Washington confirmed that, in the 1990s in New York, she learned to dance from Jennifer Lopez. During her appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, she told host Jimmy Fallon: "I've been taking dance for a long time, since I was a little girl. I had this very inspiring teacher named Larry Maldonado, for anybody from my neighborhood in the Bronx, he was our role model. ... And he had an awesome substitute teacher named Jennifer, who would sometimes step in and teach. But, then she left to move to Los Angeles and be on the TV show In Living Color. So, yes, I learned to dance from JLo!"

Career

1994–2009: Beginnings and breakthrough

Washington at the New York premiere of She Hate Me in 2004

Washington got her Screen Actors Guild (SAG) card as a requirement for a commercial that she starred in. Washington made her screen debut in the ABC telefilm Magical Make-Over (1994). She was in the cast of the 1996 PBS sketch comedy-style educational series Standard Deviants, and she appeared in the short "3D" and the feature film Our Song in 2000. She went on to appear in several movies, including Save the Last Dance (2001) and The Human Stain (2003). In 2002 she played Chris Rock's love interest in the spy thriller Bad Company, a film that represented a turning point for her, in that it was the first time in her career that she had made enough money annually to qualify for health insurance under SAG.

In 2004, she played the female lead in Spike Lee's She Hate Me, and she received strong reviews for her performance. After 2004, she held parts in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Little Man (2006), I Think I Love My Wife (2007), and as a wife of 1970s Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the UK historical drama The Last King of Scotland (2006). Washington has also appeared in the recurring role of Chelina Hall on the ABC television series Boston Legal, and in several episodes of the A&E cable-TV series 100 Centre Street. In 2007, she co-directed and appeared in the music video for hip-hop artist Common's song, "I Want You", the fourth single from his album Finding Forever and became a spokesperson for L'Oréal, appearing in commercials and ads alongside fellow actresses, Scarlett Johansson and Eva Longoria, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh, Dian Sastrowardoyo, Aishwarya Rai, Maya Karin and model Doutzen Kroes.

Washington narrated the critically acclaimed documentary about the New Orleans-based teenage TBC Brass Band, From the Mouthpiece on Back. She also appears in Maxwell's "Bad Habits" video. In 2009, Washington performed in The People Speak, a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.

2019–present: Continued success and acclaim

In 2019, Washington directed the seventh episode of the second season of Showtime's SMILF. She then starred in Live in Front of a Studio Audience on ABC in a recreation of The Jeffersons, portraying the role of Helen Willis. The same year, she reprised her role in the film adaptation of the Broadway play American Son, which she also executive produced, for Netflix. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2019, and was released on November 1, 2019.

In 2020, Washington served as an executive producer on The Fight, a documentary film revolving around legal battles lawyers for the ACLU face during the Trump administration, which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2020. That same year, she served as an executive producer and starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the Hulu miniseries Little Fires Everywhere, an adaptation of Celeste Ng's 2017 novel of the same name. Washington directed the ninth episode of the fourth season of the HBO comedy series Insecure.

In September 2020, she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) as a producer of the television special Live in Front of a Studio Audience. In December 2020, Washington starred in The Prom, directed by Ryan Murphy for Netflix, as Mrs. Greene.

From 2022, Washington will star in the recurring role of fourth-grade teacher Ms. Peyton in The Simpsons. She plays Professor Clarissa Dovey in the film adaptation of Soman Chainani's The School for Good and Evil.

Upcoming projects

In November 2018, Washington was attached to star in, and executive produce, 24/7 directed by Eva Longoria for Universal Pictures. She will star in and produce action film Shadow Force directed by Joe Carnahan for Lionsgate.

In August 2021, Washington planned to produce and star in, an adaptation of Diane Cardwell's memoir, for Netflix. She will star in the war drama Six Triple Eight directed by Tyler Perry.

Personal life

Washington was engaged to actor David Moscow from October 2004 to March 2007.

Washington married NFL player Nnamdi Asomugha on June 24, 2013, in Hailey, Idaho. They have a daughter and a son. She is also a stepmother to Asomugha's daughter from a previous relationship.

As a sort of souvenir or memento, she usually tries to keep something from every character that she plays, such as an item of wardrobe or a piece of furniture from the house the character lived in.

On May 19, 2013, she was the commencement speaker for her alma mater, George Washington University. Before giving her commencement address she was presented with an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts.

Activism

Washington (right) and husband Nnamdi Asomugha campaigning in October 2020 for Joe Biden

In 2007, Washington and other celebrities joined for the 2007 Lee National Denim Day, supporting the Women's Cancer Programs of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. In September 2012, Washington spoke at the Democratic National Convention in favor of re-electing Barack Obama, with her speech focusing on addressing voter apathy. Washington has also used her celebrity to support voter registration drives and recently encouraged her Twitter followers to make sure they have the appropriate ID needed to vote by contacting VoteRiders, a voter ID education organization.

Washington is also a supporter of LGBT rights. In August 2013, she was named an honorary chairperson of the GLSEN Respect Awards; and she received the GLAAD Vanguard Award on March 21, 2015.

She is a member of the Creative Coalition; which is a board of actors, writers, musicians, and producers that explore issues that are at the forefront of national discourse. She is also a member of V-Day, a global movement that brings awareness to violence against women and girls. In March 2016, Washington and fellow ShondaLand colleagues, Ellen Pompeo, Viola Davis and Shonda Rhimes, appeared in a commercial endorsing Hillary Clinton for president.

Washington emceed the third night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

For the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election, Washington endorsed Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams.

Filmography

Film

Television

As director

Theater

Awards and nominations

Among her many accolades, Washington has received a Primetime Emmy Awards, five NAACP Image Awards, a Teen Choice Award, and nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. One of the most successful women on television, she has received recognized by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) with nine Emmy nominations, these being:

• 65th Primetime Emmy Awards (2013), Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, nomination, for Scandal
• 66th Primetime Emmy Awards (2014), Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, nomination, for Scandal
• 68th Primetime Emmy Awards (2016), two nominations
  • Outstanding Television Movie, nomination, for Confirmation
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, nomination, for Confirmation
• 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards (2020), four nominations
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, nomination, for Little Fires Everywhere
  • Outstanding Limited Series, nomination, for Little Fires Everywhere
  • Outstanding Television Movie, nomination, for American Son
  • Outstanding Variety Special (Live), win, for Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times"
• 74th Primetime Emmy Awards (2022), Outstanding Variety Special (Live), nomination, for Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "The Facts of Life" and "Different Strokes"

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See also

In Spanish: Kerry Washington para niños