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Kerry Washington
- Thread starter Luxx
- Start date
Bronx-bred actress Kerry Washington excels at playing an on-screen wife. But in real life, the star walked away from an engagement and set about conquering Hollywood all on her own.
By Suzanne Zuckerman
Kerry Washington spent her 31st birthday last January watching a Clinton vs. Obama debate at L.A.'s Kodak Theater. When she went backstage afterward to introduce herself to the senator from Illinois, Obama told her, "I know who you are." It seems there really might be something to John McCain's whole "He's the biggest celebrity in the world" idea. After all, even Hollywood actresses get giddy when they're recognized by the potential leader of the free world. "It was a great moment," she beams. Perhaps the would-be commander-in-chief is a fan of movies like Fantastic Four (Kerry played the Thing's girlfriend). Or maybe he's just wise to the fact that Kerry—who has now stumped for Obama in nine states—is one of the best good-luck charms a fellow can have.
In fact, much has been made of Kerry's knack for helping her co-stars win Oscars (she played Jamie Foxx's feisty Southern-belle wife in Ray, then Forest Whitaker's doomed Ugandan spouse in The Last King of Scotland). "It's just been my ploy to get more work in this town," jokes Kerry, who is bright-eyed at 9:15 a.m., having already made breakfast at her L.A. home and donned a Stella McCartney camisole and Edun jeans. "I tell men, 'If you hire me, you might get an Oscar!'" (We'll next see if that proves true with Lakeview Terrace, out September 19, a psychological thriller in which she and Patrick Wilson play a couple terrorized by neighbor Samuel L. Jackson.)
But Kerry doesn't sit around wondering where her Oscar is. The only child of a still happily married professor mother and a real estate broker father (she grew up in the Jamie Towers cooperative apartments in the Bronx) is too busy "expanding." As in: "When Spike Lee found out I was co-directing a Common music video, he called me and said, 'So you're transitioning?' And I said, 'No. I'm not leaving acting for directing. I'm just expanding!'" Of her experience at Spence, one of Manhattan's most elite private schools, where her parents enrolled her at age 12, she says, "It expanded my awareness of what existed out there culturally, socioeconomically, politically." In fact, Kerry grew up attending her mother's lectures at Lehman College in the Bronx, raising her hand and getting called on as a fourth-grader in an auditorium full of undergraduates. "There was a high premium placed on learning in my house," she says. "I always had this wonderful level of confidence around academia."
That confidence served Kerry well at Spence, the East 91st Street breeding ground for alums like Gwyneth Paltrow and Emmy Rossum—and a place, one would imagine, with enough cattiness and materialism to make Gossip Girl seem like Sesame Street. Still, she says, "I never thought about fashion until I became an actor. Of course, I recently saw this Oscar de la Renta dress on Style.com and I called Oscar's office and was like, 'If anybody else wears that dress I'm going to ***********,'" she laughs. "But in high school I was the girl who would come to class in my pajamas during finals week. When you're not obsessed with what you're going to wear, you have a lot more room in your brain to think about the world." Interestingly, spending her days at Spence and going home to a housing project at night made Kerry an even better actress. "It's almost like being bicultural," she says of growing up straddling two groups of friends, two neighborhoods, two New Yorks. "I had the benefit of learning how to navigate between cultures fluently at a very early age." She went on to graduate magna cum laude from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., studying social sciences. "I'm always trying to make my life more like college—but only in terms of education," she says. "I don't want to return to partying, crazy romantic relationships, insecurity or not having any money."
Finances are less of a concern for Kerry these days, thanks in part to lucrative spokesmodel gigs for L'Oréal and Movado watches. But being lauded for her looks—credit those cheekbones to Shinnecock Indian heritage on her father's side—still surprises her. "I have not always thought of myself as beautiful," Kerry says. Knowing that statement will elicit eye rolls, she continues, "Growing up, I never felt like the pretty one, which is good because I felt it was important to become the smart one. Funny, interesting, kind. I wouldn't say I was an ugly duckling, but I never felt like I had an exceptional physical appearance that was going to make life any easier."
Tell that to Spike Lee, who cast her in a breakthrough role as a power lesbian manipulating her ex-boyfriend into becoming a sperm machine in 2004's She Hate Me. (Kerry also appears in Spike's upcoming World War II drama Miracle at St. Anna.) Or to Chris Rock, who hired her to play the lingerie-clad temptress in his self-directed 2007 comedy I Think I Love My Wife. And try running that one by the editors at Us Weekly, who rarely see a party picture of Kerry they don't publish. In fact, judging by the celebrity weeklies, it would seem that Kerry walks red carpets as frequently as the rest of us walk on sidewalks. "I understand that if I'm going to a charity event and I look fabulous, those pictures get picked up and the charity gets publicized," she says. "Let's be real: That's why they're inviting me in the first place. But I am not a party girl," she insists. "I'm not getting glammed up to celebrate the latest PlayStation. I have scripts to read. I have too much homework to do."
Jane Fonda, who co-starred with Kerry in the play Necessary Targets two years ago in New York, points out, "She has a life beyond her career that is fulfilling for her—her activism." In addition to stumping for Obama, Kerry has test-ified before Congress on behalf of the National Endowment for the Arts. In her downtime, she also loves sharing Italian dinners with girlfriends and dishing about "men and commitment and marriage and kids." But when asked to name her closest confidants, she cites her parents. "I'll be honest with you. I'm a little bit of a loner," says Kerry. "It's been a big part of my maturing process to learn to allow people to support me. I tend to be very self-reliant and private. And I have this history of wanting to work things out on my own and protect people from what's going on with me."
Take it as a sign of independence then, that in March 2007 when she broke up with her fiancé of more than two years, the actor David Moscow (most famous for playing Josh, the kid portrayed by an adult Tom Hanks in Big), she skipped the publicist-sanctioned sound bite and announced in the press that she was available for dates. As for what made her decide to call it quits with David, she says, "Relationships are never black and white where you're like, 'I love this person, now I hate them.' Turning 30 was a time when I thought, 'Wait a second. How much of my life really reflects who I am and who I want to be?' I've learned more about myself since leaving that relationship." And part of what she's learned is that she's not in a hurry for the big white dress. "I actually had a hard time planning [my wedding]—and I don't have a hard time doing a lot of things in my life," admits Kerry. "Weddings are like red carpets for normal people. I do so many gowns and events in my work. I have that. When I'm really authentic in my relationships is when there's no performance. It's just me. And I can trust that I'll be good enough."
In the wake of her breakup, Kerry also told reporters, "No one has to feel sorry for me. I'm not lonely. I have my dog." And, as if on cue, her assistant bursts through the door with shih tzu–Yorkie mix Josie B (short for Josephine Baker, and named for her vigorous butt shaking). Kerry melts into mommy mode, erupting in kisses and chirping some seriously high-pitched secret doggy language. There's certainly no shortage of love in the room. "Coming out of an engagement, I don't even try to guess what my life is going to look like in the future anymore," she says. "The important thing is to not be afraid of making decisions that are right for me. It's my life. Not anybody else's."
(nypost.com/pagesixmag/)
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Kerry Washington is interviewed at George Washington [COLOR=#144789! important][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][COLOR=#144789! important][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]University[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/COLOR]
Washington DC, USA - 27.09.08 (bossip)
haha, i have no idea what these facial expressions are about!
marlasinger
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I love Kerry but sometimes I hate her smile.
stateofbliss
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Kerry Washington in Calvin Klein Collection
Washington modeled a dress straight from the 2009 Calvin Klein Resort show when she attended the Women in Hollywood tribute in Los Angeles. The actress complemented her tiered dress with two-toned Louis Vuitton shoes and a Stuart Weitzman clutch.
instyle.com
MimiMcqueen
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Beauty and brains...
Such an intellectual person and she certainly knows what she wants.
Such an intellectual person and she certainly knows what she wants.
Mahalofashion
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^ probably just the flash making it look bad.
fashionable24/7
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Still a beautiful woman! She has come a long way. I really adore her.
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