I THINK I LOVE MY WIFE: An Interview with Kerry Washington, CONTINUED
By Wilson Morales

Why don’t you do more comedy? Except for “Little Man” I don’t really think of you doing a lot of comedy which you can do some pretty substantial stuff.

KW: I love comedy. “Little Man” was really my official comedy and I loved it and I feel that it prepared me for this film as well. I don’t know. I think it’s because I have a lot of pride and respect in my craft so I definitely want to establish myself as someone who takes what I do seriously. Now that I feel that I have done that I’ve been taking more risks in the world of comedy and hope to continue to do that.

Next for you is “Lakeview Terrace” right?

KW: No. There’s actually a very tiny film that I’m doing in LA before “Lakeview Terrace”. It’s called “Life is Hot in Crackdown”.

Who’s directing it?

KW: It’s a German director. His name is Buddy Giovinazzo. He’s actually American, but he has a well-established career in Germany. He moved to Germany several years ago and established himself as a film auteur in Germany.

What is your character in the film?

KW: I don’t want to talk about it that much. It’s actually really dark and intense. Victor Rasuk is in the film as well.

You also have that low budget movie – Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

KW: Yeah, that little thing. That’s an example of fine independent filmmaking.

Can you talk about the low and high budget issues? Can you give a sense of that? Do you have more to do this time?

KW: We’ll see. You never know what’s going to happen in the editing room.

Did you shoot more this time?

KW: Yeah, I did, but I shot a lot more the first time too. It’s interesting. There are different challenges. There’s a different quality of acting that I’m able to bring under circumstances like “The Dead Girl” where’s it do or die acting. It’s guerilla filmmaking. It’s intense and you only have one or two takes to get it. That sense of urgency definitely calls on my craft in a very special way. There’s also a different level of acting that’s able to come when you are really well taken care of. When you are able to concentrate because you have a trailer and the food’s on time and you have a driver. There’s a different level of focus that I’m able to bring to the work; and it require different parts of my brain like the psychological intensity of “The Last King of Scotland” is totally different from the intense level of focus that you need to do in a film like “Fantastic Four” where barely on set has anything to with acting; and so you are around all these special effects and wind machine and going, “Ok. I’m, blind. I have to remember that I’m blind”. It’s a very different cutlet, but I think doing all these different kinds of projects keeps my craft sharp. I think it keeps me on my toes. It’s like cross-training at the gym.

How does your character evolve in the Fantastic Four?

KW: I’m still the blind girl that’s in love with the Thing.

Your fan base will see you getting your panties taken of. Were there things that were deleted?

KW: Are you speaking to me personally? I was talking about diversity in my work. I was not including porn.

Were there ways in which they wanted to wretch that up?

KW: No, that was very clear. I’m very specific in my work around nudity clauses. I’m very specific from project to project on what I will or will not show. In this film, there was thing where I had two panties on, so in one scene where the panties came off, the panties came off, the cameras were below so you didn’t see that I had another of layer of panties underneath, so that’s how we did that.

With all the critical raves it received, were you disappointed “The Dead Girl” didn’t do as well as expected? With so many other films getting attention, it sort of got lost in the shuffle.

KW: Having getting nominated for Best Picture for Independent Spirit Award isn’t exactly getting lost in the shuffle.

Right, but as far as having people seeing, you would think the nomination would have helped but it just got lost in the shuffle.

KW: Maybe. I really try to detach from that kind of stuff because I think it would really put my priorities in the wrong place if I look at box office numbers and pictures per theater. It’s in the same way that I don’t read my reviews. I try not to get involved in all that stuff because what’s important to me is the work and however the work lives in the world is out of my control.

Which individual do you identify with as an inspiration?

KW: That’s such a great question. I think it’s a hard one. I think there’s only one Kerry. Two actresses that really stand out to me a lot are Renee Zellweger, because she is somebody who I think has a great job at going back and forth between drama and comedy, independent and big studio films; and the same for Cameron Daiz. Those are two people I think have real chops and they have managed to balanced being movies stars and real craftsmen.

Do you continue to have relationships with people you have done movies with?

KW: It depends. I feel that on average, I make one friend per movie, which is interesting because you are working with hundreds of people. It’s now always an actor, it might be a director, it might be wardrobe stylist, and it might be the casting director, but I usually walk away from the film with one new friend per project and sometimes not. Interesting the person from “Ray” that I’m closest to is Regina (King), which is so funny because she and I didn’t work together at all during the movie; but we were doing press together for the movie for a year and we became really close during the press and the hype and the awards. It changes from project to project.

Does that mean that you are building your team for your own directorial debut?

KW: Yeah, but everything has its time. I’m not always going to look this young in front of the camera and so there will be times when I maybe want to do fewer films per year, but I’m hoping to grow old gracefully on film and be an example of that. Right now, I’m really focus on my acting and starting to do some producing; but I think directing and writing take a lot more time and I’m not sure I want to be off the market as an actor for the period of time it takes to direct a film.

And theater?

KW: I miss it.

How about doing more TV? Do you have more episodic work lined up?

KW: I don’t really do TV. When I got the call directly about “Boston Legal” from the man ( David E. Kelley) himself, I couldn’t say no, but I’m not big on television. That’s something I can see doing when I’m older. I loved that Diahann Carrill played Whitley’s mom on “A Different World”. That’s thing I think about more often. When my lifestyle requires more of a 9 to 5 type world, but right now I can travel and work 18 hours so I want to do it while I can.

So, was film your first orientation?

KW: No. I started in theater. I totally started in theater.

Was your goal to get in film?

KW: Yeah, I guess.

What was your first film role?

KW: My first film was a film called “Our Song”. A very precious little film that went to Sundance and directed by Jim McKay and I think it’s the best film I have ever done.

Do you try to be versatile in all your roles?

KW: I’m attracted to versatility in my work. I am. I think it’s because I don’t want to get bored in my work and I don’t want to get typecast and in particular as a woman of color, it’s very easy to do the same thing over and over again. It’s really important to me that I do not do that. I wanted to build a career like Meryl Streep, where’s there different accents. It’s really important to me that I play a woman from the South; that I play a woman from Africa, that I can play a woman who’s Latina, and I’m a girl from the Bronx. That I have been able to do that is really important to me as an actor. I don’t think it’s about me. The work is not about me. It’s about telling a story about these other women. It’s not important that people recognized me. It’s important that they believe that this other person is a real person. I definitely don’t wake up and say, “I don’t want anyone to recognize me!” That’s not what I think, but I do wake up and think, “How does this person wear their hair? How does this person walk? How does this person put on makeup? And those things are different from me, so I’m trying to lose myself in their reality.

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