Kerry Washington just confirmed that working for Shonda Rhimes is just as great as we thought it would be.
In a recent interview with EW, Kerry Washington opened up about what it’s like to not only work for a woman, but a woman of color.
“I think human beings are human beings, so on the spectrum of women and on the spectrum of men you have lots of different ways that people are compassionate and understanding,” said Washington in the EW cover story on stands now. “But for me, being able to work with somebody who I don’t have to explain everything to all the time, that I don’t have to translate my experience to all the time…that’s important because I’m not having to walk someone down the path of racial understanding to tell a story about a woman of color. That’s a big deal.”
Washington also noted that working for a woman makes for a very different experience when it comes to big moments in life such as getting pregnant.
The star explained that while talking to a fellow actress who was worried about telling her bosses she was pregnant, she remembered a different reaction saying, “Yeah, when I told my boss I was pregnant, she literally jumped up and down in my trailer.”
“Shonda’s identity as a woman and a mother lends to understanding and being able to have joy for people’s range of experience in life,” says Washington.
Washington’s cover is one of four that EW drops this week, one of which also feature Viola Davis, all part of a cross-title editorial package (ESSENCE, EW, and People) honoring television’s preeminent creator and producer, Shonda Rhimes, and the casts of ABC’s hit shows —Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder.
Scandal returns September 24.