In Kerry Washington's interview with Marie Claire, the Django Unchained actress revealed that she wouldn’t trade her values just for a film role. She further revealed that she’d rather go back to her old job as a restaurant waitress than to be a part of a film that would be harmful to women and to the Black community. Through the course of her career, she realized that she needed to be a great example to her people.

The actress is pretty firm on her beliefs and she would stand her ground if needed. Washington says she wouldn’t waste her time on a role that would degrade women or Black people. She revealed to Marie Claire, “Even in the beginning of my career, I would say I’d rather work another shift at the restaurant than do a movie that is going to be bad for women or Black people.”

Although the actress admitted that she loves risks and would take risky roles as long as it’s not something that would inflict bad rep for her people. She said, “Part of being an artist, being a creative person, is constantly being willing to be a beginner and do things you’ve never done, be in situations you’ve never been, stretch, grow. I’m so attracted to that kind of work, but it is also so fucking scary.”

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Kerry Washington Wanted to Inspire People

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ABC

The 46-year-old actress has come a long way in her career. The year 2012 gave her something to treasure for the rest of her life. She became the first Black woman to lead a network drama since the 70s when she starred on Shonda Rhimes’ Scandal. The series ran from 2012 until 2018 and in the six years that she played as Olivia Pope on TV, the actress realized how great it is to empower women.

She was also inspired to launch her own production company called Simpson Street in 2016. Washington wanted something transformative and culturally significant and that’s her mission upon establishing her company. She said, “We are trying to expand our vocabulary around what a protagonist looks like and is, and to upend the idea of other.”

Although she admits that running her own production wasn’t easy. She knows that she still has so much to learn. She confessed, “I’m a trained creative person, but I’ve had to learn how to lead, inspire, and communicate with teams.” Thankfully, she is running the company with so much talent on her team.

One of them is Pilar Savone, Simpson Street’s vice president of production and development. Pertaining to Savone, she said, “She’s incredibly talented and more focused than anyone I know. She’s very conscious that she’s an artist and a businesswoman at her core, and she sets boundaries, making sure she has time to spend with her family [and] to be creative.”