The worlds of politics, entertainment, fashion and beauty are all in a day’s work for actress Kerry Washington.
With the same last name as the first U.S president and the nation’s capital, perhaps it is inevitable that Kerry Washington has an ineluctable draw to politics. Whether it’s starring in TV’s hottest Beltway drama or creating a nail polish collection that references the area, Washington, a staunch Democrat, is passionate about using her voice for good.
“For me, what is political is very personal,” Washington told WWD. “Politics are not this abstract idea. Laws are the rules that dictate how we live our lives. What we eat is political. How we dress is political. Where we live is political. All of these things are influenced by political decision-making, and it’s important to be part of the process.”
Although she’s a New York native and a Spence graduate, Washington, D.C., is definitely in the actress’ blood. In addition to her role as Olivia Pope on ABC’s inside-Capitol Hill hit “Scandal,” Washington attended George Washington University, from which she graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1998 with a double major in anthropology and sociology; she also has an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the school, presented in 2013 — and has worked on President Obama’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. “I started working for the real White House right before I started working for the pretend White House,” she likes to point out.
This story first appeared in the January 27, 2016 issue of WWD.
