Kerry Washington Says ‘There was always a Prettier Girl than Me So I Learned to be Smart’ as She Covers Marie Claire’s April 2015 Issue

Kerry Washington is the cover star of the April 2015 issue of Marie Claire magazine and inside the gorgeous actress talks about family, growing up, her constant need for privacy and so much more.

Read excerpts from her interview below.

On family: “I just want my daughter, Isabelle to know that she’s heard. Really heard, because I feel like that is what we all really want. When I think about any of the missteps in my life that I’ve made, all of which I’m grateful for, it’s because I just so wanted to be truly seen and heard for who I am and was afraid I wasn’t or wouldn’t be. I see you, I hear you, I’m with you as you are.”

On growing up: “I didn’t grow up thinking I was pretty; there was always a prettier girl than me. So I learned to be smart and tried to be funny and develop the inside of me, because I felt like that’s what I had.” She said.

On privacy: “Earlier in my career I was much more super-sharey. There were moments when I wanted to process things that were happening to me more privately, and I didn’t have the space to do it, because once you let people in, they’re in and you don’t get to say, ‘Oh, I want this for myself.'”

On fashion: “I just put myself in a boot camp of figuring it out—and realized that I really loved it. I guess because I came to it later in life, I realized, ‘Oh, going to a fashion show is like going to the opening of Degas at the Met or going to see Swan Lake.'”

On collaborating with Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes: “I’m very respectful of Shonda’s vision of who Olivia [Pope] is, but she has said that she is informed by the choices I make. If we were waltzing, she’s definitely leading. And she picked the song, and she probably dressed us, but it is a waltz.”

On Olivia Pope: “I don’t think I consciously say, ‘What would Olivia Pope do?’ but there’s a new thread of belief in my own capacity that I think comes from her. She makes it happen. She figures it out. She fixes it.”

For more from Kerry Washington check out Marie Claire Magazine here.

Photo Credit: Marie Claire magazine