What's Up, Kerry Washington? The Race Star on Mamet, Swearing and Kissing Kristin Chenoweth

Kerry Washington, who is making her Broadway debut in David Mamet’s Race, has the kind of intelligence, poise and wide-ranging career (Ray, The Last King of Scotland, Our Song, She Hate Me, Boston Legal) that can make other actors cringe with envy. Oh, yeah—and the L’Oreal spokesperson is also drop-dead gorgeous and one of the nicest people around. Broadway.com recently chatted with the star about Mamet’s pranks, foul language and kissing Kristin Chenoweth in the upcoming Dusty Springfield biopic.

What made you choose this show as your Broadway debut?
I’ve done a little bit of theater, and I missed it. When I heard that David Mamet had written a new play and there was an opportunity to originate a role in it, I got excited. I read it with the hope that I would love it—and I did.

Is it true you wrote a paper on Mamet in college?
It’s so funny how things get exaggerated. It wasn’t like a thesis or anything, but he was one of many playwrights that I studied [at George Washington University].

I hear he’s something of a prankster. Is that true?
He is! He is still sending pranks from across the country on a regular basis.

Such as?
There was a line that I flubbed during previews, and he sent me this wonderful cartoon of myself trying to get the line right in a thought bubble. Did you know he’s a published cartoonist? It’s hanging in my dressing room.

You’re a native New Yorker. Did you attend Broadway shows growing up?
Compulsively so. It was the way that we celebrated different rites of passage—like my graduation from sixth grade was seeing Into the Woods. Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, good report cards—those things were celebrated with trips to the theater.

Now that you’re an adult, how do you celebrate?
It’s still trips to the theater. I’m just on the stage now as opposed to being in the audience.

Was performing something you always wanted to do?
I was a very dramatic child. My grandmother used to call me Sarah for Sarah Bernhardt. I had two parents who worked full time and rather than just be a latchkey kid, I did activities: Monday was ballet, Tuesday was gymnastics, Wednesday was the children’s theater company, Thursday was piano. I think my mom knew that I needed a place to channel that energy, and that led to a life in the arts for me.

Has this play altered any of your views about race?
It’s like when people say a book will change the way you think about being a woman I haven’t had the privilege of walking through life not thinking about being a woman, you know what I mean? It’s not like a brand new idea for me to deal with. I would say it’s similar with race.

Why doesn’t your character have a last name? The other characters in this play do.
Because it’s not in the play. If you read any of Mamet’s work, it’s about what exists on the page. She’s younger and not even a partner in the law firm, so you don’t ever hear her last name. As with anything that Mamet writes, if you don’t hear it, it kind of doesn’t exist for him. That’s not to say she doesn’t have a last name in my mind.

How do you feel about all of the swearing in this piece?
I would love to be able to swear more, although I think it says a lot about the character that she doesn’t. The only time I swear in the play is quoting another character, and I think that’s meaningful in terms of who she is as a person.

What is it like being the only female in the cast?
It’s so unfair because they all roll into the theater just before half hour, and I’m there two hours before so that I can do my warm-up and my makeup and hair.

Well, you are the only one walking around in a miniskirt.
Exactly! I’m also getting up to do Pilates three times a week, unlike [my co-stars]. But honestly, it’s like I have three new older brothers. I really adore them.

Tell me about Kristin Chenoweth and this upcoming Dusty Springfield movie.
Another hilarious rumor gone awry! Kristin is developing this movie and came to me a while ago and said “I would love for you to do this.” And I said, “Oh my God, I would love that!” It’s such an important story and such a great role for her. And because she and I both like to joke around a lot, it’s become more about lesbian energy than about an important biopic about a wonderful performer.

The press was all about one of you saying you're excited to lock lips.
Right. Both Kristin and I like to make jokes, but I feel comfortable speaking for us both when I say that what we look forward to is the work of telling the story. I adore her, by the way. I’ve been a fan forever. I think she’s so smart and gifted.

So just to quell the rumors: it’s not about the kissing, it’s about the work.
Yeah, you got it.