Kerry Washington is drawing a harder line around the work she wants now. The star and executive producer of Imperfect Women said it is “pretty important” to her to be a producer on her projects, because that role gives her a voice in the creative process and an opinion on everything from casting to marketing.
That approach helps explain why Washington keeps coming back to Imperfect Women and Animals. In a challenging time for the industry, she said she wants to work with people she thinks can make her better and who she can make better, and that has pushed her toward projects where she can shape the work as well as perform in it.
Washington said most of what she does now is tied to that kind of creative control, either because Simpson Street is producing it or because she is at least an executive producer. In Imperfect Women, Simpson Street is producing the series, and Washington said Elisabeth Moss bought the rights to Araminta Hall’s book and brought her in before the show was made.
She said the material stood out because of its structure. The story opens through one character’s point of view, then shifts to the perspective of the dead woman, and then shifts again, which Washington said made the book extraordinary. She added that the framework feels like a useful exercise for the world now, because it reminds people they may not understand the full picture until they stand in someone else’s shoes.
That creative pull also came with practical demands. Washington said she insisted that production of Apple TV’s psychological thriller series take place in Los Angeles, and she described her work on the show as something she and Moss handle as “much more communal partners.” Love & Squalor and Simpson Street have linked arms to bring the show to life, Washington said, and the series runs eight episodes.
Still, she is not limiting herself only to projects she produces. Washington said she will sign on for work she is not producing, but only at a very high level with partners she really trusts. She pointed to two directors she respects and admires, Rian Johnson on Knives Out and Ben Affleck on Animals, as examples of the kind of collaborators that make that possible. She did not spell out her role in Animals, leaving that project’s exact shape unclear.
For Washington, the rule is simple: she wants the authority to help steer the work, but she is still open to stepping in when the partnership is strong enough. That is the balance shaping her slate now, and it leaves the open question of which of her future projects will give her that level of control from the start.
