16 Facts About Kerry Washington That Will Make You Love Her Even More

Kerry Washington is an enigma wrapped in a blanket of questions. Of course, you know that she plays Olivia Pope on Scandal, you have to know that, but what other Kerry Washington facts do you know? This amazing woman has not only captivated audiences worldwide with her startling ability to make a solid white outfit look good, but also with the way she served President Obama for almost a decade by helping to bring the arts back to public schools. Despite playing a character that helps the elite of Washington sweep its dirty laundry under the rug, it seems like the biggest Kerry Washington scandal is how she finds the time to do so much stuff. Not only will these facts about her life parse her seemingly exhausting schedule, but you’ll also learn what her parents thought of her decision to become an actor.

Even if you’re the biggest Shondaland fan know to man, there are definitely some pieces of the Kerry Washington biography that you’re missing. Do you know who inspired her as a schoolgirl? Do you know which Scandal costar she prefers smooching? And which exercise makes her cry? You’re going to have to keep reading to learn the answers to all of those burning questions. By the time you finish reading this list of facts about Kerry Washington’s life you’re going to feel like you know her – but please don't approach Mrs. Washington on the street like you're friends. If you do, you’re probably going to end up in a secret prison somewhere. That’s just how she works.  

Even though Kerry Washington is pretty much set for life - she is Olivia Pope, after all - she makes it a point to continue educating herself in the political subjects she has to speak about on Scandal. According to Washington, she preps by reading Jeffrey Toobin’s The Nine in order to understand the workings of the Supreme Court. "I have to learn things to be her all the time.”

Seeing as how Scandal is one of those super-sexy Shonda Rhimes programs, you know Washington is always mouth deep in her co-stars. While speaking with Ellen DeGeneres about constant making out with Scott Foley and Tony Goldwyn, she admitted that she's not really into either of them that way. When Ellen asked who was a better kisser Washington said, "I don't enjoy either one. I think they're both lovely men." YIKES!

But not for reasons that you would think. When Washington turned 18, her parents impressed upon her the importance of voting. She told Vanity Fair: “My becoming a voting citizen was celebrated the way other people would celebrate a Sweet 16. My parents took me out to dinner, and we talked about who I was going to vote for.” Fun?

Telling your parents that you want to pursue a career in the arts is always hard. It's almost like telling your parents that you're going to pursue a life in being a bum, but with the possibility of meeting even worse people. But imagine how Washington's parents, members of the educational elite, felt when she said that she was pursuing a career as an actress. Washington said, 

When I said that this is what I wanted to do, my mother literally cried. She didn't want me to experience all that rejection. They both would have preferred me to have been a lawyer.… [After college] I gave myself a year to make it in acting and was living in my parents' house teaching beginner's yoga when I got my first part, in Our Song. Then I got Save the Last Dance.… Now they're really behind me. And I'm always working. My cousins call me the longshoreman of actors.

On Scandal, Olivia Pope is known for being a woman of high fashion who is also not so pregnant. But Washington, who has been pregnant a couple of times since the show began, can't afford to care about fashion. "There's nothing high-end for professional women who are pregnant, so for the show, we wind up just buying the same clothes. We will cut out the front of Armani trousers and put in a pregnancy panel. That's what we do for everything."

Even though Washington seems like she has everything together now - she's the star of a wildly popular Shonda Rhimes show, and she's quickly becoming one of the most well-respected actors in Hollywood - she still feels like she could have stood to receive some advice from her time-traveling self. When speaking to Teen Vogue, she said, "Make sure that your dreams are yours. Make sure that you are not pursuing the dreams that somebody thinks you should have, because dreams take a lot of work and a lot of support, and you'll be more inspired to go after them if they are really, really yours." 

Hey, everybody, look at this show-off! It turns out that after finishing college, Washington decided to move to India to become a certified yoga teacher. But it isn't yoga that's her passion anymore - her true passion is pilates, which she practices five or six times a week.

There are a lot of forms of exercise where you have to leave yourself out of the room while you force yourself to do this thing. With pilates, I get to bring my true self. I cry, I laugh. I get to go: Where is my body today? What do I need today? How can I take care of myself and push myself past my comfort zone? How can I be both loving and challenging?

Or at least she was in high school. It turns out that when she was in school she looked up to Gwyneth Paltrow because she was in charge of the coolest a capella group on campus. 

It was a nine-girl a cappella singing group, we called ourselves Triple Trio. And when I was in junior high school I really wanted to be in Triple Trio because there was this really amazing senior named Gwyneth Paltrow and she was president of Triple Trio. So I really wanted to be president of Triple Trio one day. And then I was co-president of Triple Trio one day. My shining honor! 

So there you have it, Paltrow is to thank for the rise of Kerry Washington. 

Rather than going to public school like some kind of unwashed monster, Washington attended The Spence School, an all-girls school for grades K-12 in New York City. And aside from the wonderful education that she received, Washington feels like it played a big part in becoming the woman she is. 

I was really lucky because I went to an all-girls school, and that single sex education really helped me because I really learned to bond with women and to not compete with or compare myself as much because we were all allowed to be ourselves and be unique and kind of have our unique strengths.

Do you think Kerry Washington is just trying rack up accomplishments for her 20-year high school reunion? In 2009, she (along with other celebrities like Forest Whitaker and Alfre Woodard) was appointed the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and immediately began helping schools in poverty-stricken areas. She has been appointed to the Savoy Elementary School, in Washington, D.C., and she believes that the school has already seen improvements. She told Variety: “From a young age, the arts allow you a window into a world other than your own."