Source: Deadline / Getty
The Emmy-Award-winning and Emmy-nominated actress turns 48 years old today, which is hard to believe since she’s been aging gracefully on our TV screens for over two decades.
She jumped on to the scene back in the early aughts with memorable roles in
Ray,
The Last King of ScotlandĀ and
Fantastic Four.
The amazing gigs continued years later when she starred in
Django Unchained, which was released the same year as perhaps her most-known TV role,
Scandal. In the ABC-owned show, she played Olivia Pope, who fixed the fictitious president’s issues under the guise of her crisis management firm.
The show lasted six years and cemented her as a Primetime Emmy and
Golden Globe winner. It also catapulted her to being one of the
highest-paid television actresses of all time.
Washington also starred in the cult classic
Save The Last Dance as Chenille, back in 2001. Now more than two decades later, she acknowledged how the movie was an integral part of her acting career.
“Playing Chenille changed my life. I read that script and I felt like I KNEW her,” the actress said on the
film’s 20th anniversary. “At the time, I also knew the narrative that was being served in culture about who Black teen moms are. And I knew that if done right, this was an opportunity to transform some stereotyped thinking and make this young woman REAL. And human. And deserving of love and attention.”
She is still killing it on camera and not just when she’s buttoned up on
Scandal.
In honor of her 46th birthday, check out some gorgeous pictures of Kerry Washington below.
