The 'Unprisoned' star opened up about her career with 'W Magazine.'
Every time Kerry Washington tries to step away from Hollywood, it keeps pulling her back in!
Speaking with W Magazine prior to the start of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, the Unprisoned star shares that she feels as if she's spent "a lifetime trying to not be an actor."
"I am always quitting this business, and then right when I decide that I’m done is when something extraordinary comes across my desk," the celebrated actress confesses. "I was really, really done with this business right before I read the script for Ray. I was really, really done with this business right before I read the script for The Last King of Scotland. I was entirely done with this business before reading the script for Scandal. This is what happens again and again."
Fans can thank their lucky stars that the 46-year-old hasn't truly been pushed away from the industry. The Emmy winner has graced the big and small screens as some of the most beloved characters, including her time as Scandal's Olivia Pope and, most recently, Paige Alexander for Hulu's Unprisoned.
Washington's Paige is a single mother and therapist whose world and regular routine is upended when her father, Edwin (Delroy Lindo), gets out of prison after a 17-year stint, and shows up, hoping to make amends with his daughter while living with her and her teenage son, Finn (Faly Rakotohavana).
The series is based on TV writer Tracy McMillan's real-life story, and Washington explains that she was personally invited by the life coach herself.
"Tracy... called me and said that she was going to write a show inspired by the crazy, beautiful circumstances of her life. When I read it, I fell in love with the material immediately," she tells W Magazine. "I was really excited to play Paige and really excited to call Delroy Lindo, because I felt like he was the only actor on the planet who was right for this role. When he said yes, I felt like, we have a show."
Despite said role being proof that she is one of the most in-demand actresses of her time, Washington admits that she's never really had a moment where she realizes she's "successful."
"I have moments where I feel really lucky, moments where I can't believe that I'm in the room that I'm in, moments where I feel kind of awed by my life, to come from where I come from and to even have the personal life I have," she says. "To have the incredible kids I have, and the amazing husband I have, and the career that I have. I have moments of feeling really awed, but I don't feel successful -- because I still feel curious and hungry and excited to continue to work and get better and do more."
Hopefully, that means she won't be officially quitting anytime soon!
Especially as the actress prepares for the release of her emotionally charged new memoir, Thicker Than Water.
According to a press release, the book promises to give readers "an intimate view into both Washington's public and private worlds -- as an artist, an advocate, an entrepreneur, a mother, a daughter, a wife, a Black woman." Washington will reflect on her life and journey thus far, diving into her upbringing and exploring the series of challenges and setbacks that she has faced on her path.
Thicker Than Water is said to reveal hidden childhood traumas and highlight Washington's extraordinary mentors, how she managed to grow her career and cross the threshold into stardom and political advocacy.
"Writing a memoir is, by far, the most deeply personal project I have ever taken on," Washington said about the memoir in conversation with People. "I hope that readers will receive it with open hearts and I pray that it offers new insights and perspectives, and invites people into deeper compassion -- for themselves and others."
Thicker Than Water is available for pre-order and will drop wherever books are sold on Sept. 26.
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