Playing a mother on screen is not new for Kerry Washington. From her first role in ‘Our Song’ to ‘Save the Last Dance’ and ‘Lakeview Terrace,’ pregnancy comes along with the characters she’s played.
Coming up next for the New York City native is another role where motherhood is involved: ”Mother and Child.’
Directed by Rodrigo Garcia, the cast also includes Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Samuel L. Jackson, Jimmy Smits, David Morse, Shareeka Epps, S. Epatha Merkerson, Tatyana Ali, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Cherry Jones, Amy Brenneman and LaTanya Richardson.
Three women’s lives share a common thread: They have all been profoundly affected by adoption. Karen (Bening) had a baby at 14, gave her up at birth and has been haunted ever since by the daughter she never knew. Elizabeth (Watts) grew up as an adopted child. She’s a bright and ambitious lawyer, but a flinty loner in her personal life. And Lucy (Washington) is embarking on an adoption odyssey with her husband.
Washington spoke to Black Voices recently about her role, as well as her current stint on Broadway in David Mamet’s critically acclaimed play ‘Race.’
What is this film is about?
Kerry Washington: The film is a lot of things. It’s a highly complicated film, but in many ways, it’s about three women who all go through dramatic transformations of character because of relationships in their lives, which, by the way, for three actresses is amazing because we don’t normally get to be the people who go through this. We get to holds the hands of those who are going through the transformation. All of them, through their relationships, are transformed. None of us are the women that you meet at the beginning of the film. Naomi’s character goes from someone who tied her tubes as a teenager to someone who is excited about being a mother and for the first time is willing to look for her mother. Karen, who’s played by Annette Bening, transforms completely, and my character wouldn’t let her visit a baby at the beginning of the film had they met. A lot of what goes on is the journeys we make as human beings.
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