Scandalicious….

Kerry Washington is hot on the market right now and is finally getting the credit she deserves as an actress. The Scandal star graces the cover of Uptown Magazine where she dished on her childhood, what drew her to upcoming movie Django Unchained, leaving the entertainment business and why she’s no saint.

On growing up in the Washington household and her multi-culti family:

She still remembers the lively, sometimes heated, discussions on race and society around the dinner table. “My family’s very multiethnic,” she says. “When we get together for the holidays, it is the U.N., across the board.”

On the culture shock when she enrolled in an upper east side private school:

Prior to Spence, Washington thought her working-middle-class family was balling. “We had a microwave and two cars. We had a dishwasher before anyone in the building,” she says. “And then you go to this other world, and it’s, ‘Oh, we’re taking a helicopter to your house in the Hamptons?’ For a lot of classmates, I knew the only other black women they’d known were their domestic help.”

On what drew her to Django Unchained and the controversy around the movie:

“I’ve never seen slavery dealt with this way before in film. So often it’s a white character who’s the savior of black people.”

“We should have a plethora of visions and interpretations of who we are as a nation.” But she admits, “This is not necessarily the film I would make about slavery.”

On leaving the entertainment business:

“Sometimes I feel like I can’t do this anymore.” Almost once a year, her hair and makeup folks hear it: “I am done! I’m so done.”

On why she’s no saint:

“If you look at my body of work, I’ve always taken huge risks. I’ve played prostitutes, drug addicts, pimping lesbians. I do work I’m drawn to.”

Catch the full interview and behind-the-scenes videos over at Uptown.

Related posts:

Django Unchained Stars Cover Vibe Magazine

Scandal Star Kerry Washington Covers Women’s Health ‘Healthy & Sexy Issue’

Kerry Washington Covers JET Magazine

Incoming search terms:

• kerry washington magazine cover