Actress Kerry Washington has played different on-screen roles in her two-decades-long career. But the one that gave her the most recognition was her portrayal of Olivia Pope on the Shonda Rhimes series “Scandal.”
The series aired on ABC for seven seasons between 2012 and 2018 and lasted for 124 episodes. However, after being cast as the beloved character, Washington had to inform the government about her role in the political drama show.
During an appearance on Dec. 19, she told “The View” hosts, “I had to call Valerie Jarrett, who worked for the Obamas, and say ‘I just want you to know, I’ve been cast in this show. It’s awkward because on the show, I’m sleeping with the president. But, like you know, it’s going to be fine, right?’”
Pope is a brilliant crisis manager in Washington, D.C., known for handling political scandals. Throughout the series, she navigates an intense relationship with her father, who is also the head of a CIA organization, whilst being entangled in a complicated romance with the president.
“I wanted to give them a chance to distance themselves if they needed to, but they were like, ‘It’s fine. It’s TV.’ Again, for art, everything’s OK.”
Critics who heard Washington’s recollection of her “awkward” call to the White House, felt the “Little Fires Everywhere” star was overreacting.
“So she believed being cast in a tv show she did not create, might get someone mad?” wrote one person in response to a New York Post article about it. “Would she have called all her friends if she was cast as a murderer and told them not to be afraid of her?”
Another wrote, “Please, you are a legend in your own mind. As if anyone cares what your tv character does.”
A third wrote, “Stop playing in our face. Bring the show back.”
Fans have been begging for Washington to reprise her role and continue the series in a special of some sort or a final chapter to address the secret love affair between Pope and President Fitzgerald Grant, played by actor Tony Goldwyn.
They made a plan to escape to Vermont, where they would live happily ever after. But that ending to their storyline has never brought fans closure.
Washington received at least one compliment regarding her thoughtful notice to the Obamas after her appearance was shared on The Jasmine Brand’s Instagram
“That is a woman of character,” the fan wrote.
Another alleged, “That was the prudent and proper thing to do. She also has mentioned that she would not have taken the role if the President was cast as a Black man on Scandal because people would likely discredit Obama since he was the only Black President to date.”
Washington felt it was appropriate to make the call because of the ties she already had with the Obama administration as their surrogate. She accepted the role in both 2008 and 2012 which were both years that President Barack Obama ran and won the election.
During the election runs, it was Washington’s job as the surrogate to campaign on Obama’s behalf.
In 2009, Obama assembled several Hollywood stars to be on the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Alfre Woodard, Forest Whitaker and Sara Jessica Parker were on it — to name a few — and so was Washington.
According to the website, the “PCAH will consider how the arts and humanities sectors can positively impact community well-being, economic development, public health, education, civic engagement, and climate change across the United States. ”
Even after the Obamas finished out their second term in the White House, Washington has continued her support for Democratic candidates running in the following elections. She’s campaigned for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris.
