Scandal actress Kerry Washington picked up her first Emmy nomination and became the first African-American to be nominated for best drama actress since Cicely Tyson earned the mention 18 years ago.
Only four African American actresses have been nominated in this category — Debbie Allen (Fame), Alfre Woodard (St. Elsewhere), Regina Taylor (I’ll Fly Away), and Tyson (Sweet Justice).
If the fifth time is the charm and Washington wins, she’ll be the first African- American to do so.
After premiering to mixed reviews and mediocre ratings as a mid-season replacement in 2012, the fast-paced drama grew into a hit series, primarily because of word of mouth promotion via social media, particularly Twitter.
Therefore, it’s only fitting that Kerry Washington reacted to her lead actress Emmy nomination for her portrayal of the passionate crisis fixer Olivia Pope by tweeting to her 971,000 followers, “Just landed. WOW! Im so grateful &humbled. THX 4 all your CONGRATS! YAY .”
“It is a small group of very accomplished women who I admire very deeply that I share this honor with,” Washington said in a phone interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s surreal to be in their company, historically.”
Washington’s character in Scandal is loosely based on the life of Washington, D.C., crisis consultant Judy Smith.
The series closed out its second season in May as one of the network’s most-watched and talked about shows, attracting about 8 million viewers for new episodes and inspiring as many as 2,000 tweets per minute.
