Kerry Washington is best recognized as Whitehouse “fixer” Olivia Pope from Shonda Rhimes popular show, Scandal. With this role, she became the first African American female lead in a network drama in nearly 40 years! But this isn’t all she’s done — some of her best work was in films like Ray, Django Unchained, The Last King of Scotland and most recently as Anita Hill in the HBO TV film, Confirmation. Here’s a look at things you likely didn’t know about Kerry Washington:
10. Childhood
She was born in New York in 1977. She grew up in the Bronx and was an only child to her parents, Earl Washington, a real estate agent, and Valerie, a professor of early elementary education at Lehman College. She often describes her family as academic and “socially conscious, politically aware.” Washington commuted from the Bronx to the Upper East Side to go to an elite all-girls academy, the Spence School. While attending the Spence School in Manhattan, she was a member of a nine-girl Cappella singing group called Triple Trio.