Latest / The Breakfast Club / INTERVIEW: Kerry Washington Talks 'Shadow Force,' NAACP; Tyler Perry, Producing Vs. Acting, Unprisoned + More

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INTERVIEW: Kerry Washington Talks 'Shadow Force,' NAACP; Tyler Perry, Producing Vs. Acting, Unprisoned + More · The Breakfast Club

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Wake that ass up in the morning.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: The Breakfast Club.
• 0:05
  Speaker 3: Yes, since the world most dangerous morning show to Breakfast Club,
• 0:07
  Speaker 3: Charlamage the God just's hilarious. Enva's not here, but Lauren
• 0:10
  Speaker 3: LaRosa is filling in, and we have the legend the
• 0:13
  Speaker 3: icon living Carrie Washington here.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: How are you carrying?
• 0:16
  Speaker 4: Good?
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: I'm happy to be here, always good when I'm with
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: you all.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, what's your energy like this morning?
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: I feel good, I feel centered, I feel grateful. Yeah,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: I'm curious.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Did you have an intention this morning when you will go?
• 0:27
  Speaker 4: I didn't state an intention when I woke up this morning,
• 0:30
  Speaker 4: but I woke up with a lot of gratitude.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Amazing, Yeah, amazing.
• 0:33
  Speaker 5: What's the gratitude for?
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: You know?
• 0:36
  Speaker 4: I feel like this is gonna sound so cliche, but
• 0:38
  Speaker 4: I'm very aware lately. Maybe I'm trying to cultivate more
• 0:42
  Speaker 4: awareness lately that as much as things are challenging in
• 0:46
  Speaker 4: the world, like I feel like the circumstances in the
• 0:48
  Speaker 4: world are tough at the moment for a lot of people,
• 0:52
  Speaker 4: but also two things can be true. There's so much
• 0:55
  Speaker 4: of my life that is truly answered prayers. I know
• 1:00
  Speaker 4: when I wake up that the career I have my marriage,
• 1:04
  Speaker 4: my children, my health, that like I am living, I'm
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: walking in prayers answered.
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: This is a time for I mean, it always never
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: a time, but I want people to return back to
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: God in this moment. I really because if you are
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: a person of faith and you got to believe, everything
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: truly does happen for a greater good, right, or at
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: least for some reason that we may not understand.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: I do believe that I do.
• 1:26
  Speaker 4: I think that I try to remember though, also that
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: that faith is not just about being like handing your
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: power over that. For me, faith is about listening for
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: God's will, which is also pointing me in the right
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: direction toward action. Right Like faith is not just about
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: like sitting back and saying like other people will do
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: or somebody else will provide.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: It's also about like, how can you use me today?
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: Lord?
• 1:50
  Speaker 6: Right?
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: How can I be of service today? How can I
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: show up? Because faith isn't just about being inactive, It's
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: about like really stepping into your purpose, your responsibility.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: Action? Is that your word for this season? Since you're
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: in shadow for.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: I do you know? It's funny.
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: I feel like the last time I was here may
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: have been to talk about my memoir Thicker than Water,
• 2:12
  Speaker 4: And it was when I was writing Thicker than Water,
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: I was.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: Making this movie.
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: And so there was like an awareness of a strength
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: that was growing in my life, like an emotional strength,
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: a spiritual strength with my family. And I feel like
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: the film allowed me to put that in my body,
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: like in my cells, to be like, what does fierceness
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: really look like feel like on me?
• 2:35
  Speaker 5: Not that I know that.
• 2:36
  Speaker 6: Thinking about back to that conversation, I can I've seen
• 2:39
  Speaker 6: a movie, so I can kind of see what you're
• 2:40
  Speaker 6: talking about. Yeah, but did you ever think that you
• 2:42
  Speaker 6: would be taking on because this is your first action film,
• 2:44
  Speaker 6: you'd be taking on action in your career in a
• 2:46
  Speaker 6: role like this.
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: So I mean, I'm just gonna be honest with you.
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: I did an action film twenty years ago. I was
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: Angelina Julie's best friend and mister Missus Smith and I
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: got to like climb that mountain with Angelina and shoot
• 2:59
  Speaker 4: some guy and I was like, I love this.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: I loved it, so.
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: Yeah until I then, I like my career kind of
• 3:08
  Speaker 4: took a different turn, and I was doing drama and
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: TV and movies and comedy. But I'd never had a
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: chance to do action again, and I really wanted to,
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: so my production company, Simpsons Street. When Scandal ended, I
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: was like, we need to find a great action film.
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: And when I read this one, I was like, this
• 3:24
  Speaker 4: is it because I feel like my favorite action films
• 3:26
  Speaker 4: are the ones where you know why the explosions are
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: happening right where you care about the characters, where there
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: are real emotional stakes, and so I felt like to
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: have a big This film is like a crazy, big ass,
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: splashy action adventure, but at its heart, it's about love.
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: It's about family, It's about the sacrifices you make for
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: the people that you love the most. It's about what
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: it means to be a parent, and like I think
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: most parents know what it feels like to be like
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: I would go to the ends of the earth to
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: protect this child. But if you are a trained mercenary.
• 3:56
  Speaker 5: Like my character and kill people for a.
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: Living, what does that look like to really do whatever
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: it takes to protect your little black boy Joy?
• 4:04
  Speaker 6: What was the training like at this point in your
• 4:06
  Speaker 6: career for this action film versus that first action film.
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: I don't even remember the training for that one, And
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: you know, maybe because I'm older or just it was
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: so new.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: For me, but this was intense. It was great.
• 4:16
  Speaker 4: I mean there was a lot of just weightlifting and
• 4:18
  Speaker 4: pilates even just to get in shape to be able to.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: Learn the choreography.
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: And then there was stunt training and weapons training because
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: we're not just shooting guns where loading guns, were cleaning guns,
• 4:26
  Speaker 4: where there was the fight choreography. I mean it was
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: hours and hours of training.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: Did you not a bust your gun before? No?
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: I didn't.
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I mean I had done a little bit,
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: but I really and on all different kinds of guns
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: and I'm a really good shot.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: Didn't make you want to own one.
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: It didn't make me want to own one, but it
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: made me grateful that I could use it if I
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: needed to.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. Yeah.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: Was it ever challenging?
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: What part of it was ever challenging?
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: The shooting was not challenging. Weirdly, it was weird like
• 4:55
  Speaker 4: that it came. I mean, I have a one of
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: our targets that I'm framing for my office that I
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: got like a bullet in each eye, like crazy. I
• 5:03
  Speaker 4: don't know why I'm such a good shot, but I'm
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: I'm not complaining. I think the physical, like learning the
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: martial arts especially because a lot of my fights were.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: With people much bigger than me.
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: So to learn how to fight Omarci, who plays my
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: husband in the film, who's the actor of many of
• 5:16
  Speaker 4: You may love him from Lupin or Lupin if you're
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: saying it the French way, but he's so much taller
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: than me, and so to figure out, like what is
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: my fight approach to be able to take him on
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: was fun.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: I'll be honest with you. Sounds very tiring, like what
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: was the recovery project? Like a lot of pacts.
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: Are while you're yeah at all, But I loved it.
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: I mean it's it was useful to have a husband
• 5:41
  Speaker 4: at the you know, my husband who was a former
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: professional athlete, to be able to kind of help me
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: through some of that.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: But I love that.
• 5:48
  Speaker 4: I love challenging myself physically, and I love working out.
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: I love getting into the body of the character. So
• 5:54
  Speaker 4: it was exhausting, but I also felt, I don't know,
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: I was really proud that when my kids would get
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: up on a Saturday morning, they would come downstairs and
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: see mommy like with the boxing gloves on, kicking ass
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: and the driveway with my trainer, Like there was something
• 6:05
  Speaker 4: really exciting about that.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Does the role like this help you to express your
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: shadow side war?
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: I think so.
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: I definitely, like I've I think my go to personality.
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: I'm much more of a lover than a fighter. I'm
• 6:17
  Speaker 4: not a person who likes to argue. I'm not really combative.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: I'm not.
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: I'm not avoidant, but I'm definitely not an aggressive person.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: So this did help me tap.
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: Into a level of anger and aggression and courage more
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: than anything.
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: Ooh, courage. That's why courage.
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: Because I think when you put yourself in situations where
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: you can get hurt, it requires you to face those
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: fears and you know the It's funny. I was talking
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: to Omar because he's French and our word courage comes
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: from the French word gul, which means heart. So it's
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: really about like having a strong heart, a capacity to
• 6:59
  Speaker 4: challenge your heart.
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: That's interesting because I was thinking about something earlier, like
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: what do you think your characters have taught you that
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: no human being our real life ever good?
• 7:11
  Speaker 4: M I mean, I'm lucky because every time I play
• 7:15
  Speaker 4: a character, I get.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: To learn her greatest lessons.
• 7:18
  Speaker 4: So it's almost like reincarnation in this lifetime, like I
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: get to learn what she learns and then fold it
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: into my life to move forward. A lot of times,
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: what characters remind me, they remind me to be grateful,
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: you know, Like for this film in Shadow Force, it's
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: really about what it takes to protect the people you
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: love from the systems that want to cause you harm,
• 7:41
  Speaker 4: which I think is very relevant right now. But this couple,
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: they used to be part of this spy unit. You know,
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: they were trained killers together, they broke the rules, they
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: fell in love, I got pregnant, So now we have
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: to go on the run to protect our kid from
• 7:54
  Speaker 4: the very unit that we used to be a part of,
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: the Shadow Force unit. So for me, the film is about, like,
• 8:00
  Speaker 4: when there are systems that don't want you to have
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: freedom and love and joy, what do you do to
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: fight those systems? And I think that's a great lesson
• 8:07
  Speaker 4: to be reminded of right now. It's a great question
• 8:09
  Speaker 4: for all of us to be asking ourselves right now.
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: You know, Like I too, as a mom, want to
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: protect my black boy joy. I want my son to
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: hold on to his joy in the face of a
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: world that may not be invested in his liberty and strength,
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: and so that for the film. The film is a
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: great reminder also, these two mercenaries, you know they have
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: to separate. I kind of back off from the family
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: to try to protect them from Afar, and Omar plays
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: the dad. It's this beautiful. It's such a perfect date
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: movie because the action is beast but Omar also plays.
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: He's doing the primary parenting of the dad, and that
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: image of a black father who's so like locked in
• 8:45
  Speaker 4: and present is so beautiful in a film. But part
• 8:49
  Speaker 4: of what they learn is about partnership, Like, if you're
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: lucky enough to have a partner in parenting, you are
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: so much stronger when you lean into that partnership and
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: in that partner could be your spouse, could be your sister,
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: it could be your mother, it could be your stepdad,
• 9:02
  Speaker 4: it could be whoever is part of that village. But
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: leaning into that partnership and parenting.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: Is also a gift.
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: So I think I walked away from the film feeling
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: so grateful for my partner, for my kids, for our safety,
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: for our willingness to fight for our joy no matter
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: what's happening in the world.
• 9:18
  Speaker 6: I was going to ask you, because there's a lot
• 9:20
  Speaker 6: of different scenes, don't want to get a move you away.
• 9:22
  Speaker 6: I know, I know the first scene that stood out
• 9:26
  Speaker 6: to me where I was like, I think, this is
• 9:27
  Speaker 6: what I'm feeling. I'm feeling like she's fighting the fact
• 9:30
  Speaker 6: that like this is a good man and he loves
• 9:33
  Speaker 6: your son and you as much as you think he does.
• 9:36
  Speaker 5: Just let him do it.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: Oh you got it, girl.
• 9:38
  Speaker 5: When y'all were at the gun range.
• 9:40
  Speaker 6: And don't give no, and y'all y'all had the back
• 9:46
  Speaker 6: and forth there and you left and his shot was perfect,
• 9:50
  Speaker 6: and I was like, man, it talked about a lot
• 9:52
  Speaker 6: about how men have to sacrifice in family and relationships
• 9:55
  Speaker 6: versus how women have to do.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: It and how we feel it.
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: Yes, and now we come together because you really kind
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: of twisted the gender norms in this film where the
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: woman is out there working protecting from Afar, trying to
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: you know, not just bring home the bacon, like bring
• 10:07
  Speaker 4: home the dead bodies, to protect this family. But he's
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: even though he's badass and strong, he's also like the
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: more sensitive parents. He's like really present. I was talking
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: to my girlfriends, like, to me, there is nothing sexier
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: than watching a man be a good dad. It is
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: just like so beautiful, so I just love that we're
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: kind of playing in those gender norms and asking people
• 10:27
  Speaker 4: to challenge your idea of even what family looks like today.
• 10:30
  Speaker 6: Did that cause any conversations for you at home with
• 10:33
  Speaker 6: your family of like, Okay, here are some things that
• 10:35
  Speaker 6: you know, I want to I don't know, let you do.
• 10:38
  Speaker 6: Let you I'm gonna I'm gonna lean and allow you
• 10:40
  Speaker 6: to do. Because that was like the biggest thing.
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: It's like, yeah, I don't know that the film caused
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: me to have those conversations in my marriage. But I
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: think one of the reasons why the film really resonated
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: for me is because I do really understand the value
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: of the partnership that I'm in, and I really do
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: have you know, I love parenting with my husband, you know,
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: I love our marriage, and I love how we are
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: a team with these kids, and both are really important.
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: Like to cultivate the time to just be a couple
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: and then to cultivate the time to pour into the
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: family too.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: All of that is just so important.
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: So when I read the script, I was like, Oh,
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: this just feels so good to see black love portrayed
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: in this way. Black power like they are so badass,
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: but also to see black love sort of explored in
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: this way.
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: You play so many different roles, like when you go home,
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: how do you remain rooted?
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: And who Carrie Washington is.
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I have rituals that I do at the end
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: of the day, like a lot of times, you know,
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: a lot of times I'll play a character, for example,
• 11:41
  Speaker 4: who's married to somebody else, right, And so for me,
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: when I take off my wedding ring and put it
• 11:46
  Speaker 4: back on at the beginning of the end of the day,
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: that's a small ritual that grounds me and who I
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: am because it's such a big part of who I
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: am and how I walk in the world. And I
• 11:54
  Speaker 4: just I have like ways that I close out the
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: day because in the beginning of my career I used
• 11:59
  Speaker 4: to try.
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: To live in these characters all day long.
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: But when you get married and have kids, You're like,
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: I don't need to go home and be sharing my
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: shadow self with people that don't deserve that.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: Or need that. So I try to really create containers.
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: Some of that has to do with the hair and
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: the makeup. When I take off the costume, I just
• 12:15
  Speaker 4: try to leave what needs to be left there. It's
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: not always perfect there's You know, I'm a person who
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: thinks a lot about the work even when I'm not
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: at work, but I do try to make sure that
• 12:24
  Speaker 4: I'm as present as I can be with my family
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: because they deserve that.
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: Have you ever bought a home and called you your
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: man the wrong name?
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: Characters has called you the characters now?
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: No?
• 12:40
  Speaker 5: No, okay, no no no.
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: I feel like I got to say congratulations to you too,
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: because the six triple Late received the Congressional Medal, Yes, honor.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: I feel I feel like.
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: The Netflix series Louten Nicole Avon and Tyler Perry, I
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: feel like that amplified that story.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: That was our goal.
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: You know, when when Tyler and Nicole came to me
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: with that project, it was so clear to us that
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: this story needed to be told because these women needed
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: to be celebrated, and that the most important thing was
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: that we made a movie that really resonated with people,
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: so that no one would ever forget these women existed
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: and what they did, the sacrifices they made for this country,
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: and the courage they had to do what they did.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: So the fact that it like broke records.
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: It was Tyler's biggest film ever on Netflix, that fifty
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: million people watched it in the first few months, like
• 13:26
  Speaker 4: it was just an insane success for the platform. And
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: I'm really proud of that because what that says to
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: me is that at a time when our history is
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: so under attack, that that is a story that cannot
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: be taken away from us, and that we understand our
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: role to do good and to make the world a
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: better place, and that has been a part of the
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: history of this country forever.
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: That feels psychologically to see the same administration has taken
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: so much from us to also reward the six triple late.
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: I don't know if it was this administration that made
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: that decision.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: It happened prior to.
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: Speak, yeah, yeah, yeah, But I would just say, whoever
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: gives them their flowers, they deserve their flowers. It doesn't
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: make me say that the other decisions they're making are okay, right,
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: Like they don't get a pass because they've done this
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: one thing. These women deserve to be honored and celebrated
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: despite whoever is in power at any time.
• 14:19
  Speaker 5: And then the NAACP Image of work moments.
• 14:22
  Speaker 6: But thank you to Tyler Perry, congratulations actress motion picture
• 14:26
  Speaker 6: for us.
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: And then we also won Best Picture, which was so
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: proud as an executive producer of that film.
• 14:31
  Speaker 6: Yeah, the movie was perfectly cast to Oh my god,
• 14:39
  Speaker 6: all those girls.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: It was.
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: As a producer, I was really proud to be introducing
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: all of that young talent, all those incredible young black
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: actresses to the world. They were so amazing and in
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: shadow force too. I mean Julia as a producer when
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: I when we audition Omar and I auditioned Julia, who
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: plays our son in the film, I mean, he like.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: Steals the movie.
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: He's so adorable and lovable and he has to be
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: right because every explosion, every kick, every punch is for him,
• 15:04
  Speaker 4: so you have to fall in love with him, and
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: he's so good.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: And then method Man's in the film Divine Joy.
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: We were lucky we got her before her fancy Oscar.
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: But the cast is incredible.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: It's stacked.
• 15:14
  Speaker 5: Randa, I love. Yeah.
• 15:18
  Speaker 6: I wanted to ask you when the NAACP image of
• 15:20
  Speaker 6: word moment happened, where you think Tyler Perry again? And
• 15:23
  Speaker 6: then he posted online talking about how that brought him
• 15:25
  Speaker 6: to tears. Y'all talked after. I'm sure was it an
• 15:29
  Speaker 6: emotional conversation?
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: It was because again, like we don't you know we
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: had just made this film to give flowers to eight
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: hundred and fifty two women in heaven and three who
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: were still with us, to honor their sacrifice and their service.
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: And he was like, I'm so grateful that you take
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: that you took the time to give me my flowers
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: now right, we can't wait for people to go to
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: say how great they are. We need to let people
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: know in the real And I didn't. I just didn't
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: know that I had thanked him twice.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: I blacked out. I really really.
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: Really did not think I was gonna win, Like I
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: told Nandi to stay home, like, you know, gotta come
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: to this baby, Like I knew.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: I knew that Cynthia Rivo was winning that award year
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: she was nowminated for an Oscar.
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: I'm such a crazy, wicked fan, like I voted for Cynthia,
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: so it was amazing. I really was shocked, like like
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: Beyonce Album of the Year shocks, Like just couldn't believe
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: that that had happened. And then when I got up
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: on stage, I blacked out, so I didn't remember having
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: said him, and the idea when I was walking off
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: stage that I may not.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: Have said his name was so devastating to me. I
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: just blew up the whole show.
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: I love that though.
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: I love that level of gratitude, you know what I mean,
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: because I feel like a lot of people who don't
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: do that.
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: Why was that so important for you to do in
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: that moment? Like I have to make sure, I think.
• 16:42
  Speaker 4: I think because Tyler's been such a support for me
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: throughout my career. Like at a time earlier in my
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: career where I was like I'm done acting, I don't
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: think I want to do this anymore, he called me
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: to be in for Colored Girls beautiful film, and I
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: got to work with so many of my heroes, Whoopy
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: Goldberg and Felicia Rashad and Loretta and Devine and Janet
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: Jackson and Anica Noni Rose, a young Tessa Thompson. Like
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: he's been there for me even when I've struggled, like
• 17:05
  Speaker 4: in my career with paparazzi and fame. He's provided safe
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: spaces for me. He's a confidant, he's an advisor, he's
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: a real friend.
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: And to come to me with this role, I just.
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: Thought this was an extraordinary gift to be able to
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: play Captain Charity Adams, a woman who was so inspiring
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: and so heroic. It really felt like the gift of
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: a lifetime to be asked to step into this process
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: with him and co produce with him. So I want,
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: I just it was I couldn't imagine not thinking.
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: Him, Well, what are the biggest lessons you've learned as
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: a producer as opposed to things you learned as an action?
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: I guess the thing I love most about producing is
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: when you're an actor, you really are sitting around waiting
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: for somebody else to give you an opportunity to do
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: what you love to do. Right, Like you're like, please,
• 17:49
  Speaker 4: somebody hire me, Somebody invite me to your party, Like
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: I just want to play, I want to hang out.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: I want a seat at the table.
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: But when you're a producer, it's that thing of like,
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: if you don't have a seat at the table, build
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: your own table, Like I get to build my own
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: table now, and because it's my table, it's the table
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: I know I want to be at, and I do
• 18:05
  Speaker 4: not build a table for one. So to have a
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: table where I know thousands of people are getting to
• 18:10
  Speaker 4: work and to pursue excellence and chase their dreams because
• 18:13
  Speaker 4: of what we're doing at Simpson Street.
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: That's such a gift.
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: So I think as a producer again, it's really about, like,
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: how can I be of service, not just to find
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: the projects that I want to do and tell the
• 18:22
  Speaker 4: stories I want to tell for me, but also like,
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: I'm so proud of our show Reasonable Doubt, which we're
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: shooting in Atlanta right now.
• 18:27
  Speaker 5: Season three, Desperate Housewives, Yeah I make Yeah.
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: So we're really like we are creating lots of opportunities
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: not just for me but for other people, and that
• 18:36
  Speaker 4: I love to be of service.
• 18:37
  Speaker 6: How do you go ahead? I was gonna ask, how
• 18:39
  Speaker 6: do you pick what you get involved in or choose
• 18:40
  Speaker 6: to do? Because the Desperate Housewives spin off it's like
• 18:43
  Speaker 6: twenty years later. Yeah, were you a fan of the
• 18:45
  Speaker 6: show or like, how what's.
• 18:46
  Speaker 4: The fact I love the show? I'm a huge fan
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: of the show and that showrunner Mark Cherry. I just
• 18:52
  Speaker 4: I thought it's just a great time. Like some of
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: the issues of that show, the idea of like living
• 18:59
  Speaker 4: a life of perfection where everything looks good but underneath
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: there are secrets and desires and complexities that we're not
• 19:05
  Speaker 4: talking about. Like that still resonates, So I thought this
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: was a good time to to think about how would
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: that show exist now? Who would be in that cul
• 19:14
  Speaker 4: de sac now? Because it looks different now than it
• 19:16
  Speaker 4: did twenty years ago.
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: I see people not happy about that though. I saw
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: some backlash. It was like, we don't want a new cast.
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: I think they're trying to say we don't want to adversity.
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: I think that's what it really say.
• 19:25
  Speaker 6: I was thinking, I mean, some black neighbors, we'll see,
• 19:29
  Speaker 6: we'll see.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: Do you even when you hear stuff like that, does
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: it does it deter you in any way?
• 19:33
  Speaker 6: Like?
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: Is that a project I want to touch?
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: I'm open to feedback.
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: I think it's important to have your ear open to criticism.
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: But I try to only give real power to people
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: who are in the game right like I don't. I
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: don't really take criticism to heart from people who I
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: don't admire and respect.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: Damn, you can't even get.
• 19:54
  Speaker 5: From outside.
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: I have to like you and and like how you're
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: living and right you're doing and what you're creating to
• 20:03
  Speaker 4: feel like you have a say on what I do.
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: But I'm very open. I'm a very collaborative person. I'm
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: very open to feedback. I love getting like, I love
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: directors who challenge me, who make me be better, who
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: ask tough questions. You just have to be careful with
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: your energy and not give it to haters.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: So just the random folks on social media you like whatever?
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: No, I mean you I again, I think you have
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: to stay aware.
• 20:25
  Speaker 4: I think anytime you just dismiss human beings is that's
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: not healthy because everybody matters. Everybody's a child of God.
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: People's voices matter, people count. But you just have to
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: for me, as I'm weighing input, I have to make
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: sure that I don't give my power away.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: Question.
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: When when you were doing scandal, right, Yeah, the scandal
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: seemed very absurd.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: You think about the government. When you look at the
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: government now, you like, what like Seanna couldn't even write.
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: This, Wow, it's wild.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: What would Olivia Pope do right now if she was part.
• 20:55
  Speaker 4: Of his government, which I don't think she would be
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: part of this government. I don't think she would have
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: or she wouldn't serve this administration.
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: Even to be a spool who sat by the door
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: like the.
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: That's an interesting twist. Maybe Shonda would write that kind
• 21:10
  Speaker 4: of version.
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't. I really this administration.
• 21:13
  Speaker 4: Is beyond what I can wrap my head around right now.
• 21:18
  Speaker 4: And so I'm really really trying to pivot my focus
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: on most days to how each of us can show
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: up to participate in this process in ways that really matters,
• 21:29
  Speaker 4: because I think we got here because too many people
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: feel like they don't matter, like their voices didn't matter.
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: I think if more people understood the power of their vote,
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: we wouldn't be where we are.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: When did you realize When did you first realize people
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: were watching you not just as an actress, but as
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: an as a leader.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: Oh that's a good question. I don't know.
• 21:55
  Speaker 4: I think I've always been a little bit of a
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: you know, I started my act division work when I
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: was a teenager, so I've always been a person who's
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: kind of been an artist but also tried to be
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: of service.
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: But I don't know.
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: I don't.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: I don't.
• 22:10
  Speaker 4: I mean, even as you said it, I was like, Oh,
• 22:11
  Speaker 4: I guess people do think of me as a leader,
• 22:13
  Speaker 4: but I don't.
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: That's not first in my mind. I don't think about
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: it in those terms.
• 22:18
  Speaker 6: Yeah, interesting, I would say, even politically like people they
• 22:23
  Speaker 6: I don't know your character of course, because of you know,
• 22:26
  Speaker 6: living pope, but even politically, like people look to you
• 22:28
  Speaker 6: to see like who you're talking about, why you're talking about,
• 22:31
  Speaker 6: on what you're doing, what you're not doing. You got
• 22:33
  Speaker 6: off a X at one point, I did, Yeah you
• 22:36
  Speaker 6: took a break.
• 22:36
  Speaker 5: I saw you post that as well. Are you back now?
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: No? No?
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: No, no, right no.
• 22:41
  Speaker 6: But it's a synonymous with Olivia Popen who you know
• 22:44
  Speaker 6: what I mean? The show and that was Twitter.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that was an ex.
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: Twitter was made our show, part of what it was,
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: the culture on Twitter and black Twitter. But X is
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: a different place now. The neighborhood has changed. I don't
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: want to live there.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: You moved.
• 22:59
  Speaker 4: I'm not in that neighborhood anymore. I don't agree with
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: the leadership. You want to talk about leadership like, I
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: don't agree with the leadership there. I don't agree with
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: how the conversations are happening.
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: It's not okay. It's not as safe a place as
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: it used to be.
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: And it was never entirely safe, but now it's like
• 23:13
  Speaker 4: the wild West and there's a lot of misinformation, and
• 23:16
  Speaker 4: so I don't want to be at that party.
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: I'm glad you use the word safe because you don't
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: seem to play it safe. But you have just like
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: huge career. A lot of people in Hollywood want to
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: play it safe because they don't want to impact their career.
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: Why do you take that?
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: I guess risk is the word.
• 23:31
  Speaker 4: It's interesting because I even at my company, when we
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: talk about culture within the company at Simpsons Street, we
• 23:36
  Speaker 4: often don't say like we want to make.
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: Sure this is a safe space.
• 23:40
  Speaker 4: We try to say we want to make sure this
• 23:41
  Speaker 4: is a brave space, because it's not about safety. It's
• 23:45
  Speaker 4: about truth and having the courage, being brave to say
• 23:48
  Speaker 4: the things that need to be said so that you
• 23:50
  Speaker 4: can move everybody forward. Safe is about like tiptoeing eggshells
• 23:54
  Speaker 4: working around people. It's like no, no, no, no, no, let's
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: be real, Let's tell the truth, Let's be kind. But
• 23:59
  Speaker 4: I think is kind?
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: Was there a brave story you want to tell right now?
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: Especially being like I said, they keep taking a lot
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: of things from us, So I feel like art is
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: going to be the only way to educate and inform.
• 24:12
  Speaker 4: I was just at the Brooklyn Artists Ball last night
• 24:14
  Speaker 4: at the Brooklyn Museum and they were honoring Darren Walker,
• 24:16
  Speaker 4: who's an incredible leader, and he was saying that artists
• 24:20
  Speaker 4: hold such important meaning in the culture right now because
• 24:24
  Speaker 4: artists are like a mirror up to society. I'm really
• 24:27
  Speaker 4: proud of Shadow for us. I really I love this film.
• 24:30
  Speaker 4: I feel like theaters are back, Like I'm so excited
• 24:32
  Speaker 4: about Sinners. I'm obsessed with that film is so beautiful.
• 24:34
  Speaker 4: I feel like this is another like really exciting film
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: to see in theaters because the locations are gorgeous and
• 24:40
  Speaker 4: it's not a lot of cgi Like this is real
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: people doing real stunts, putting our bodies at risk. I'm
• 24:48
  Speaker 4: excited to be in community with people telling stories about
• 24:51
  Speaker 4: the power of black family and black love and black
• 24:54
  Speaker 4: parenting and black kids and.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: Community. You know. Yeah.
• 25:00
  Speaker 4: And then I'm starting a series Simpsons. Street is producing
• 25:03
  Speaker 4: a new series for Apple called Imperfect Women that we
• 25:07
  Speaker 4: start in a couple of weeks. We're filming in LA
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: So I'm really excited about that project to us with
• 25:10
  Speaker 4: Lizzie Moss from Handmaid's Tale, and that's also really about
• 25:14
  Speaker 4: like truth, you know, and.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: Booked and busy trying.
• 25:19
  Speaker 5: I love that.
• 25:20
  Speaker 4: And I'm excited that we're shooting in La you know,
• 25:22
  Speaker 4: because we need that after the fires, there's we really
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: need for more production to be happening in Los Angeles,
• 25:27
  Speaker 4: So I just finished doing a film there and now
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: we're starting this series.
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: Are your role as Alicia masters and fantastic?
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: I haven't been invited to, but you can put that
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: out there.
• 25:41
  Speaker 4: I do want to do more action films. I really
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: feel like doing Shadow Force was so fun, and I
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: think it's exciting to work in that way, to be
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: to take on strength not just intellectually and emotionally and spiritually,
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: but physically.
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: How was Carrie Washington staying grounded not just in this
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: high pressure industry, but as you said, and just this
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: crazy ass world we're living in right now.
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: I think therapy is a big part of it. Therapy
• 26:10
  Speaker 4: is a big part of it. I think wellness practices
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: like my workouts are everything, hydrations, sleep. I have really
• 26:18
  Speaker 4: been trying to center sleep this year. My doctor has
• 26:20
  Speaker 4: been like this, this has to be number one. So
• 26:25
  Speaker 4: those are I mean, I think those are the big ones.
• 26:27
  Speaker 4: And then just you know, staying connected to the.
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: People who I feel like really love me for who
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: I am.
• 26:32
  Speaker 6: You know, people I feel closest to you do a
• 26:36
  Speaker 6: really good job of like on social not on X
• 26:38
  Speaker 6: but there are the socials for your fans, like, we
• 26:42
  Speaker 6: always feel really connected. When Unprisoned was canceled, we heard
• 26:46
  Speaker 6: it from you first, which doesn't normally happen a lot
• 26:48
  Speaker 6: of times. The talent involved is like, we didn't even
• 26:50
  Speaker 6: know that this was happening, But you were honest. You
• 26:53
  Speaker 6: said that you guys were disappointed that it wasn't coming back.
• 26:56
  Speaker 4: Why, I thank you for bringing that up, because the
• 26:58
  Speaker 4: interview that you guys did with Della was so special.
• 27:02
  Speaker 4: So he's amazing supporting actress so great. So I mean,
• 27:08
  Speaker 4: it's one of my favorite interviews he's ever done, and
• 27:10
  Speaker 4: so thank you for having him on and for supporting
• 27:12
  Speaker 4: the show. I mean, it's one of the gifts of
• 27:14
  Speaker 4: being a producer, right is a lot of actors, a
• 27:16
  Speaker 4: lot of talent don't They don't know when decisions are
• 27:18
  Speaker 4: being made. But as a producer, I get to be
• 27:20
  Speaker 4: in the room even when it's disappointing.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: News that I don't want to hear.
• 27:23
  Speaker 4: And I feel like the fans deserve that because everything
• 27:26
  Speaker 4: we have is because people show up and watch.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 27:28
  Speaker 4: I'm very aware that the life I live is because
• 27:32
  Speaker 4: of the people who have shown up to support me
• 27:34
  Speaker 4: throughout the years, and I'm really grateful. So I try
• 27:37
  Speaker 4: to treat that relationship with as much respect as possible.
• 27:39
  Speaker 5: Could I ever tell you why, Like when these things don't.
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they do.
• 27:44
  Speaker 4: You know, sometimes it makes sense, sometimes it doesn't, and
• 27:48
  Speaker 4: sometimes we don't see eye to eye about their reasons.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: So you know, she's so pleasant for me.
• 27:58
  Speaker 4: It's like, that's why we have to keep That's why
• 28:00
  Speaker 4: you just got to keep creating. Like the biggest way
• 28:03
  Speaker 4: to heal heartache around creativity especially is to just create more.
• 28:09
  Speaker 4: You just got to get back in there and take
• 28:11
  Speaker 4: more risks, tell more stories, stay stay vocal.
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: Well, thank you, Queen carry Washington.
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: Always a pleasure when you pull up Shadow Forces in
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: theaters on May seconds Friday.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: No no, no man, all the.
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: Okay, Mother's Day weekend.
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: That is the That's that's what you need to take
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: your mother to go see Shadow Force.
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: Carrie.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us, Thank you for having me.
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: It's a pleasure. Breakfast Club, wake that ass up in
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: the morning. The Breakfast Club