Kerry Washington nervous? The actress, who plays the fast-talking political fixer on ABC’s hit show “Scandal,” finds herself in an unfamiliar place in the fashion world. Washington walked the runway Friday at New York Fashion Week in a gorgeous floral print Stella McCartney dress, to sit on the judges’ panel for the season finale of Lifetime’s “Project Runway.”
Washington said she phoned her girlfriends seeking support to fend off her nervousness about critiquing fashion designers’ work on the show.
“I told my girlfriends this morning, `I’m going to have to be judgmental all day, and I’m not very good at that!'” she said. “But they told me I can be critical without being judgmental.”
Luckily for the designers who may have been expecting a harsh critic based on Washington’s popular TV character Olivia Pope, she’s more of a nice girl.
“I leans more towards Paula (Abdul), or Jennifer Lopez,” she said, referring to the relatively gentle temperament of the two “American Idol” judges.
During a pre-show interview, Washington revealed a clinical approach to what many may have assumed is her natural sense of style.
“I’ve had to learn about fashion because as an actor, it’s such a huge part of the marketing,” she said. “I’m the daughter of a professor, and an A student, and I approach it as a student. I do my research. I stay informed. I communicate with the designers.”
Fans can catch Washington along with Project Runway‘s regular judges, Heidi Klum, Zac Posen and Nina Garcia, on Oct. 17 when the episode airs on Lifetime.
