I recently read the debut literary offering from Hollywood actress Kerry Washington as I was producing an interview with her for a client.
Kerry is one of those staple actresses that you can’t remember a moment when she wasn’t around.
Save The Last Dance
Django Unchained
For Colored Girls
Ray
Just a few of the films she’s been in, and each time she embodies a character, it’s easy to mistake Kerry for an actress you’ve never seen before. And then came Scandal, which truly put her front and centre in the glare of the entertainment industry. Notoriously private, it was surprising to hear she was releasing a book. And she hits you in the chest from the beginning: she’s told that the man she’s known for the last 40+ years is not her father. And so begins a journey.
Here are the things that stood out for me whilst reading the book.
KERRY WASHINGTON IS AN ACTING GEEK
She is a connoisseur of her craft. There is a whole chunk of the book where she reveals her practice as an actor and is an unravelling of how she embodies her characters. To any emerging actor who admires her work, it’s an opportunity to pick up gems on her approach. I like that quirk about her. It’s a blessing to find something you love so fiercely.
THICKER THAN WATER IS ABOUT IDENTITY
The book evaluates people and the web of relationships we have. From the intimacy of looking after her mother during her bouts with cancer to her own sense of worth and self-trust being destroyed by someone who violated her to bearing daily witness to the fragmentation of her parent’s marriage and how that dichotomy impacted who Kerry was for decades.
Here we see the start of her evolving into the woman she wants to be now she understands why she always felt distanced from her parents and finds herself. I’d have loved to hear more about her experience of this evolution and how – from her perspective – her peers can begin that journey. However, in our in-person interview, she explains that the impact of who she is post this revelation, post the writing of this book remains to be seen.
COMPASSION SHOULD BE AFFORDED TO BLACK MEN
We know this already but it’s not always realised in our everyday lives. Kerry chooses not to punish her parents for keeping this mighty secret from her. Instead, she chooses to hold space for her dad who is devastated that he has to tell his baby girl the truth and has to deal with his grief and trauma of knowing he wasn’t her father.
I asked Kerry about this off camera as we wrapped up her interview, and she mentioned that it did take work, helped by her husband. Our men are silenced by the notion that real men don’t speak and don’t feel, but Kerry’s choice to hold space for her father was powerful and something I hope people pick up on.
YOU’RE NOT AN ACTOR. YOU’RE A BUSINESS
This sentiment is exactly the kind of thinking I try to instil in my talent. Kerry was taught this whilst at drama school and is something that she took to heart as she decided to mention it in her book. For any artist interested in their professional practice, Kerry shares how she becomes the actor she is. Probably as a way of connecting to those who ask how she navigates “the business”.
It’s a mindset I’ve always advocated for because it means that you have a full 360 view of your career. Sometimes, leaving things in the hands of others without oversight can lead you down paths you don’t want to take, and you should always be the driver of your life.
INCESSANT DRAMA IS NOT ALWAYS NECESSARY
I started reading the book during a time when Jada Pinkett Smith’s book Worthy started its promo tour and every other hour on social media came another salacious revelation or meme that elicited a visceral reaction. So reading Kerry Washington’s book simultaneously made me wonder “Where’s the juice? Where’s the goss?” And honestly, some elements of the book didn’t always land or add value to her story for me.
However, when I finished the book I realised how wired for drama I am due to the overexposure we have to people’s lives. Thicker Than Water isn’t that. It’s a conversation and a true curation, reflection and embodiment of who I would perceive Kerry Washington to be. Here is an insight into an ordinary family – despite her fame – who go through challenging, human experiences. Here’s a woman who – again, despite her fame – has to go through an evolution of self and identity and kind of levels the playing field between her and the reader, showing people that she’s not absolved of the human experience just because of her career.
Thicker Than Water is a personal story of one woman’s self-discovery. Are you going to learn Kerry’s deepest darkest secrets? No not really and nor should we, to be fair. A chunk of the book speaks to the challenges in her parent’s life and marriage though she does reveal her, at times, unhealthy relationship with food and violations from some men in her life. What you do get is one step closer to who she is as a person, she opens up and you’re allowed the opportunity to be in communion with Kerry in a way that you never have before.
Thicker Than Water is out now at all book retailers.
