Washington stars in Netflix’s television adaptation of the acclaimed Broadway play.
Kerry Washington is headed to Netflix.
The former Scandal star leads the streaming platform’s television adaptation of American Son, the acclaimed Broadway play about an interracial couple trying to find their missing teenage son. The TV film debuts on Nov. 1 after making its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Washington plays Kendra Ellis-Connor, who finds herself stuck in the waiting room at a South Florida police station while trying to piece together what happened to her son. Steven Pasquale reprises his role has her estranged husband, while actors Jeremy Jordan and Eugene Lee return as members of the police.
“In a lot of ways, it is about how we raise our kids, about race and about what's going on in the country right now,” Washington told ET ahead of the play’s debut in 2018. “But it's also about marriage and how you cross the divide culturally, how you can just be two people who are trying to figure out how to do something well together. It's really about love and about betrayal and about, you know, navigating that stuff.”
At the time, American Son marked the actress’ celebrated return to Broadway almost a decade after making her debut in the 2009 play Race. In between, she was busy leading Shonda Rhimes’ hit ABC series Scandal, which came to an end after seven seasons last year.
“I did Race on Broadway right before Scandal, and now I'm coming back kind of to close this chapter of my life. I think I am different in a lot of ways, and also in a lot of ways it's just a homecoming,” Washington said. “I'm a New York girl, I love the theater, this is where I learned how to be an actor... so I'm just grateful to be back.”
American Son was written by Christopher Demos-Brown and is directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon with Washington serving as executive producer. In addition to this Netflix project, Washington will also star alongside Reese Witherspoon in the upcoming Hulu limited series adaptation of Little Fires Everywhere.
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