Kerry Washington Awarded Hollywood Walk Of Fame Star

HOLLYWOOD, CA — Actor Kerry Washington was honored Monday with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame ahead of the premiere of her latest film.

Washington reminisced about her modest upbringing in New York during her acceptance speech. She told the story of her uncle who visited Hollywood and found a Walk of Fame star with the same last name as him — Moss — and took a photo with the star blocking out the person's first name.

"My mom and dad also taught me to dream. They taught me to believe and to pursue. And so here we are. Mom, dad, can you believe it? An actual star. You made a wish and it came true and now I am swirling in a galaxy of other stars, all encouraging each other to shine brightly and light the way for somebody else's dreams," she said.

"It's for me to imagine some kid with the last name Washington, or maybe the first name Kerry, using their pose in a selfie to cover up half of my name to make room for their legacy."

Shonda Rhimes, who created "Scandal" — the show Washington starred in as Olivia Pope from 2012-18 — said she and the actor have a rare creative bond.

"She never questioned what she wrote about Olivia and I never questioned how she played Olivia," Rhimes said.

Washington's latest film,"The Six Triple Eight," is set to premiere on Netflix on Dec. 20. Written and directed by Tyler Perry, the film centers on the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, a battalion made up entirely of Black women in World War II.

Born Jan. 31, 1977, in the New York City borough The Bronx, Washington acted in plays at the all-girls Manhattan private school The Spence School, from which she graduated from in 1994. Washington got her first television credit in the 1994 "ABC Afterschool Special," "Magical Make-Over."

Washington's other early television credits included a recurring role on the 2001-02 A&E Network legal drama "100 Centre Street" and appearances on "NYPD Blue" and "Law & Order."

Washington made her film debut in the 2000 coming of age drama "Our Song." She played the girlfriend of Chris Rock's character in the 2002 action comedy "Bad Company" and was the female lead in the Spike Lee-directed 2004 independent comedy-drama "She Hate Me."

Washington played the wife of legendary entertainer Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx) in the 2004 film biography "Ray." Her other pre-"Scandal" film credits include "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," "The Last King of Scotland," portraying a wife of Ugandan President Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker), the superhero film "Fantastic Four," and its sequel, "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer."

Washington received outstanding lead actress in a drama Emmy nominations in 2013 and 2014 for her portrayal of crisis manager Olivia Pope in "Scandal."

Washington received outstanding lead actress in a limited series or movie Emmy nominations in 2016 for her portrayal of law professor Anita Hill in the 2016 HBO film about the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas and in 2020 for the Hulu miniseries "Little Fires Everywhere," where she played a talented artist who works part time as a waitress.

Washington has five Emmy nominations as a producer, winning in 2020 for outstanding live variety special for "Live in Front of a Studio Audience: `All in the Family' and `Good Times."'

Her other producing nominations were for outstanding television movie for "Confirmation" in 2016 and "American Son" in 2020, outstanding limited series for "Little Fires Everywhere" and outstanding live variety special for "Live in Front of a Studio Audience: `The Facts of Life' and `Diff'rent Strokes."'

Washington's recent acting credits include the recurring voice role of fourth-grade teacher Rayshelle Peyton in the long-running Fox animated comedy "The Simpsons," the 2023-24 Netflix comedy-drama "UnPrisoned" and the 2022 Netflix fantasy film "The School for Good and Evil."

Washington recently completed production on the third installment in the "Knives Out" film series, "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery," set to stream on Netflix in 2025.

City News Service contributed to this report.