Cover Trends: Kerry Washington Serves Up Words of Wisdom for Elle Magazine

Actress Kerry Washington looks like she could give Olivia Pope a run for her money as she graces the cover of the April issue of Elle magazine that hits newsstands on March 22.

In the magazine, the Scandal star opens up about the stuff that she’s passionate about including motherhood and her political persuasions.

She admits that her devotion to Olivia Pope helped encourage her need to have a child, based on her character’s ability to do what it takes to get the desired results.

“Because she knows there’s always another way – there’s always a way to fix it, there’s always a way to solve it, to win. And I feel like playing her made me feel like, All right, I can do it. I will figure out how to juggle it all. “

The 39-year-old also discusses her upcoming role in HBO’s Confirmation, in which she portrays Anita Hill, who made headlines and had her world turned upside down back in 1991 when as a 35-year-old law professor at the University of Oklahoma she accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. Hill had worked for Thomas at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and it was during that time, that Hill testified that her former boss subjected her to inappropriate conduct.

Washington explains why she was drawn to what could easily be the most relevant role of her career, “This moment was so important because it created a language around women being able to protect themselves. The behavior that Anita Hill described was going on in a lot of offices throughout the country, and most people didn’t think they were doing anything wrong. But this created awareness around that and around the need for women’s voices to be heard in our public spaces, both testifying before Congress and sitting on the committee. It really was such a huge cultural shift”.

Clearly Washington, understands the value of standing up for what you believe in particularly when it comes to maters of the heart, or vocalizing her political stance which she is has always been committed to, “I’m a person who’s always been politically active and passionate about people’s rights. I marched against the 2004 Republican Convention. And as my career has expanded, it’s been important to me not to stifle that voice. Because you want to be popular, you want people to hire you, and I have to make sure I don’t do it less because I’m an actor”.

As expected, Washington is in awe of her boss and mentor, Shonda Rhimes. She describes the woman that single-handedly made Thursday nights on ABC  – the must-see TV blockbuster  – as an inspiration and heaps praises on how the media titan manages to accommodate an enviable career while also raising her three children, “She’s been such an amazing resource, as a mom, and as a working mom…I am on one show and I have one kid, and she has three shows and three kids. “.

Sounds like the actress who plays the most powerful woman on primetime television has finally figured out how to have it all without compromising.

Read more of her interview with Elle magazine here.