Actor, producer, and directorKerry Washingtonhas made a career out of portraying the Black experience in some very powerful and moving historical, dramatic, and biographical films and TV shows. Being a native of the Bronx and having a mother heavily involved in activism has inspired her to take on roles that not only depict being Black, but show a reflection of her own mother as a powerful Black woman. While most people know her best as Olivia Pope in ABC’s drama seriesScandal, Washington has been appearing in films since the early 2000s,following her graduationfrom Georgetown University in 1998.
Washington hasn’t just stuck with serious dramatic films, of course. You might’ve seen her in many well-known films and TV shows such asMr. & Mrs. Smith, bothFantastic Fourmovies from 2005 and 2007,Cars 3,How to Get Away with Murder, and, currently, the voice ofBart Simpson’s teacher, Ms. Peyton, on the well-loved seriesThe Simpsons. Now, she’s adding to the list the teen-fantasy filmThe School for Good and Evil(based on a book with the same name), set to release on Netflix this October where we’ll see her play Professor Dovey, head of the School for Good. While we wait for just a little longer, here’s our ranking of Kerry Washington’s best performances.
7Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere (2020)
Little Fires Everywhereis a drama miniseries based on the bestseller of the same name by Celeste Ng that premiered on Hulu in March 2020, with Washington co-producing with co-star Reese Witherspoon. It addresses racial and social politics between two mothers, artist Mia Warren (Washington) and journalist Elena Richardson (Witherspoon). The two actresses had to create a safety word on set so that they could try to get genuine shocking reactions out of each other without going too far. Washington’s performance can be credited to the fact that she felt connected to the story having grown up in a poor neighborhood in New York before attending The Spence School, an elite all-girls private school in the Upper East Side, a school where she felt disconnected from her richer, white peers. This, plus the dynamic and tension she has with Witherspoon, add up to a brilliant performance of a guarded and emotional single mother.
6Night Catches Us (2010)
Originally, Washington was not set to star inNight Catches Us, but when there were constant delays in getting the film into production and the eventual falling-through of the original lead actress, Washington landed the role. She plays Patricia Wilson, a 70s civil rights lawyer, single mother, and widow of a Black Panther leader, who develops a relationship with Marcus (Anthony Mackie), the man believed to have killed her husband, after he returns home. This is one of the roles that Washington felt reminded of her own social activist and political mother to the point of trying to play her for the movie. In an interview withEssence, she recalls her mother seeing the film and noticing Washington was portraying her. Thankfully so, as Washington is able to portray a strong and caring mother on top of one of her most complex performances yet.
5Confirmation (2016)
Based on the real-life Supreme Court justice hearing for Clarence Thomas, HBO’s TV movieConfirmationnot only had Washington in the lead role of Anita Hill, a former colleague of Clarence Thomas (Wendell Pierce) who was accusing him of sexual harassment, but also had her as an executive producer. Washington worked closely with the real-life Anita Hill to not only ensure that the film was portraying events correctly, but also to help her better understand everything Hill was feeling during the time of the hearing. While studying the hearing that she followed as a young girl, she realized there are two different communities she will be a part of: women and people of color — and sometimes they are not on the same side. As Ken Tucker said in hisYahooreview ofConfirmation, “Washington’s performance so thoroughly captures the degree to which Hill did not seek or desire such a status.”
Related:The Best Women-Led Revenge Films, Ranked
4Ray (2004)
The first time Washington co-starred with Jamie Foxx was forRay, the biographic film about R&B legend Ray Charles (played by Foxx). Washington played Della Bea Robinson, Charles' loving and supportive second wife. Both actors had unbelievable chemistry (that would lead to them playing husband and wife again) and despite not being the star of the film,Rayis often seen as the movie that truly put Washington on the Hollywood radar. While her performance is underrated, she beautifully portrays the life of Della Bea Robinson and the struggle she faced with her husband’s constant infidelity and drug addiction. It didn’t make Washington a household name, but laid down the groundwork that would see her rise into bigger and more iconic roles.
3The Last King of Scotland (2006)
The Last King of Scotlandis a film that blended fiction and fact. Based on a book of the same name and real events of the 1970s dictatorship of Ugandan president Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker), the film follows the perspective of his (fictional) Scottish doctor, Dr. Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy). Washington played Kay Amin, the youngest of Idi’s three wives, who had an affair with Dr. Garrigan (while the character is fictional, she did have a real-life affair with one of her husband’s doctors). Washington talked about the amount of research she did to prepare for the role, including reading whatever little information she could find on Kay, studying the fashion from beauty magazines from Africa at the time, and even spending time with real-life Kay’s younger cousin. All of this gives us another one of Washington’s underrated but terrific performances of Idi Amin’s neglected wife’s rebellious affair.
2Scandal (2012-2018)
We couldn’t make a list of Washington’s best performances without including her lead role as Olivia Pope in ABC’sScandal. She starred as Olivia Pope, owner of Olivia Pope & Associates, a crisis management firm in Washington D.C. IfRaywas the movie that laid down the groundwork for her career,Scandalwas the fruit of that labor. The role gained Washington multiple awards for lead actress in a series, two Emmy nominations, and the title of the first Black woman to play the lead in a TV drama in 37 years. Olivia Pope is a three-dimensional character who isn’t good nor bad, which, according to Washington, made the character all the more joyous to play.
Related:Jamie Foxx Gives an Update On His Controversial Unreleased Comedy All-Star Weekend
1Django Unchained (2012)
From critically acclaimed director Quentin Tarantino, the western dramaDjango Unchainedsees Washington play opposite of Foxx once again, and alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson. She plays slave owner Calvin J. Candie’s (DiCaprio) house slave, Broomhilda “Hildi” von Shaft, who was separated from her husband Django (Foxx), who begins training under a German bounty hunter with the goal of rescuing and reuniting with his wife. The role required Washington to learn German, and she has talked about the emotional toll it took on her to play the role of a slave. She had to see a therapist while playing the role, but also had support from her family, cast mates, and Tarantino who helped push her through playing the role when it felt like she couldn’t anymore. In an interview withIndieWire, she said, “I guess one of the things I walked away with was more gratitude than I have ever had before for the people who were able to survive this period, because I feel we barely survived it for pretend, for nine months.” Washington’s performance as Broomhilda is chilling and hard to watch at times because of the fear she portrays so realistically.
