Tyler Perry and Kerry Washington sit down to ask each other thought-provoking and personal questions, offering a behind-the-scenes look at their friendship and creative collaboration. Perry kicks things off with a memorable story, sharing how he first “heard” the actress before he even saw her, thanks to her unmistakably loud voice, while Washington opens up about what it’s like watching Tyler direct on set and how his leadership and vision inspire her.
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00:00You know you're a good actor and completely stunningly beautiful
00:03when you can play a 26-year-old and kill it on camera.
00:06At my old age.
00:07No, stop it, no, stop it.
00:12Let's go.
00:12All right, this is a question I'm nervous to ask you
00:16because I feel like I know the answer
00:17and it's going to be embarrassing for me,
00:18but I'm going to do it anyway.
00:20Tell me.
00:20What is your first memory of us meeting?
00:24My first memory of meeting Kerry Washington
00:26was how loud she was.
00:29I just remember your voice, hearing your voice
00:31before I saw your face.
00:33It's the Bronx girl in me.
00:34It's the Bronx girl.
00:34I'm just like, how is this little petite, beautiful woman so loud?
00:38I'm a party.
00:39Yeah, yeah, that's right.
00:40All by yourself, all by yourself.
00:42But no, when did we meet though?
00:44Like, was it for Colored Girls?
00:46I think it must have been, right?
00:49I know we spoke on the phone before starting to film.
00:52That's right.
00:54And I was really honored that you would even take the time
00:56to talk to me.
00:57I was.
00:58I really was.
00:59I really was.
01:00And when we talked, so many of my heroes
01:03were already signed up to do the film.
01:05Phylicia Rashad and Whoopi Goldberg and Janet Jackson.
01:08And I mean, even some of my peers that I was awestruck with,
01:12like Anika Noni Rose and a young Tessa Thompson.
01:15So I think that you saw me in community with those women
01:18was so humbling, but not enough to make me quiet on set.
01:22Yeah, not enough to make you quiet.
01:23But no, the beauty in that, in working with you on that film
01:26was just having the opportunity to actually see you.
01:30Not just work with you, but see you.
01:32I'm like, oh no, this is a beautiful soul.
01:34What do you mean by that?
01:35No, I mean to actually see you.
01:37Like, I see people.
01:38Like, when you see actors and things on television,
01:40you know, they're working, they're acting.
01:42But when you're in person with them, I can look in.
01:45I can lean in and see who's the soul in front of me.
01:48So understanding that.
01:48You know what, I was, okay, when we met on set,
01:52I was so moved and inspired by your elegant leadership.
01:59And it was something that I actually had just begun
02:04to kind of articulate loving in my then boyfriend,
02:09who's now my husband,
02:11that kind of gentle, elegant leadership.
02:13And in you, I saw it on a film set
02:16and I'd never seen a director so dignified
02:21and respectful and respectful of themselves.
02:25Like that, I was really blown away by kind of the dignity
02:29that you walked with in the world.
02:31Wow, thank you for that.
02:32I think Mr. Poitier would be proud
02:34because he was totally, Sidney Poitier,
02:36totally my model hero for the way I wanted
02:40to move in the world.
02:41I would see him in his grace and elegance
02:44and got a chance to meet him and watched him
02:46how he would make everyone in the room feel special
02:50and seen.
02:50Oh, you do that.
02:51And leaned in.
02:52Thank you, that's kind.
02:53That's incredibly kind.
02:54My love is too magic to have thrown back in my face.
03:01Was there anything about me that surprised you?
03:04Besides how loud you were?
03:06No, no, I didn't know what to expect,
03:10but I had worked with, let me see the best way to say this.
03:14In the past, I had worked with some actors
03:17who I met and wasn't surprised at who they were
03:22because they show up as what you thought they would be.
03:25Oh, interesting.
03:26And then there are people who show up like you did
03:30and you think, oh, well, she's a great actor.
03:32But then to see all of the other things,
03:36the heart of who you were, the grace, the elegance,
03:39the class, the presence, there are people who are stars
03:43and you know they're a star
03:44because the way they walk in the room,
03:46they have presence and you were present in the room.
03:50So you mentioned all those other women,
03:52but you were just as present as all of them.
03:54So looking back now, what, 15 years later,
03:57it's like you see that, yeah,
03:59because in order to be in this business,
04:03it takes one thing to get to the space,
04:06but then it takes another thing to hold the space.
04:09So I was so grateful that by the time Scandal came along
04:13in my career, that we already had a relationship,
04:18a friendship, a connection,
04:19because that was such a rocket ship in my career.
04:23It was like, what moment am I having?
04:27And the navigation of it was its own job,
04:31but I felt always so supported by you.
04:36And I felt like you saw the rocket ship that we were on
04:40and you held space for me to process it,
04:43to share the challenges of it, the joys of it.
04:46You actually encouraged me to sit in the joys of it
04:50and not just be stressed about the challenges of it.
04:53Because it was challenging.
04:54I mean, to come from this career that's going well
04:59and then all of a sudden, okay guys,
05:01here's the mothership, you're going.
05:03And I saw it on you.
05:04And to watch you get married and have a family
05:08and fiercely protect that space, that privacy.
05:12We've been on vacation with our families
05:14and to see you holding that.
05:16And even seeing my friends,
05:18while you guys were out swimming,
05:19my guy friends rallied around you
05:21when you were recognized.
05:21To protect me.
05:22To protect you from the fans in that moment
05:27because it was such a sacred space and a sacred time.
05:29I knew what that meant to have a safe space.
05:32And is it because you're, I mean,
05:35you had your own version of the rocket ship that was,
05:38I mean, so much more actually exponentially
05:41explosive than mine.
05:42But you were living in a car
05:46and then all of a sudden running an empire.
05:49That must have been,
05:51how did you stay grounded through all of that
05:53and connected to yourself and your truth?
05:56Listen, living in a car will ground you
05:58and never wanting to live in the car again
06:00will make you extremely careful in everything you do.
06:04And I entered every moment
06:06with this thought of this could all end.
06:10So be careful.
06:11How are you going to approach this?
06:12How do you feel about it?
06:14And also understanding that me walking through it first,
06:17like being able to talk to Sidney Poitier
06:19and Cicely Tyson and Maya Angelou and Oprah
06:22and all those people who went first,
06:24I could state would tell me,
06:25oh, Oprah, I call Oprah.
06:26I was like, I'm dealing with,
06:28I went through that in 86.
06:29Here's what you do.
06:30So me wanting to take that information
06:33and pass it on was what I was seeing.
06:35Oh, you have done that.
06:37You really are doing that.
06:39I've been still in my life.
06:41Do you feel like that's where your instincts come from too?
06:44Like you have such,
06:45I watch you as a director and producer.
06:48You have such a strong connection
06:50to your personal clarity
06:53about whether something is how you want it to be
06:55or not how you want it to be.
06:57And you don't hesitate
06:59that your relationship with your instinct
07:00is so clear, your intuition.
07:02Where does that come from?
07:04I think in childhood,
07:05just what I found is just in childhood
07:08is just the level of toxicity
07:12and abuse that I suffered.
07:14I thought that maybe I'm on the spectrum.
07:19So I started testing for all of these things
07:21and I had this brilliant therapist say to me,
07:24the things that you experienced
07:26taught you to be hypervigilant.
07:27So you would think that you're on some sort of spectrum
07:30because the way you see things,
07:32the way you-
07:33Because you had to.
07:34I had to, to survive.
07:35Extra see.
07:36Yeah, to be safe.
07:37I had to see 10,000 things at once.
07:38That's right.
07:39So taking that into adulthood,
07:40I'm still that same person.
07:42On a set, you see it all.
07:43I see it all.
07:44But you've learned how to use it as your superpower
07:46in positive ways now.
07:47Exactly.
07:48And watching and knowing that you're directing
07:50and you watching me,
07:51I remember we were in,
07:52we were doing 6888,
07:53the big party scene.
07:56And you go,
07:56how are you going to do this in this amount of time?
07:59Yeah.
07:59And I remember you saying,
08:00I am taking some of this with me.
08:02Yes.
08:03What did you take with you?
08:04I learned so much from you on 6888.
08:07I used to look at the counts on the call sheet
08:09for how much we were going to do in a day and think,
08:12oh, we're never going to finish this movie on time
08:14because this is totally unrealistic.
08:16On 6888.
08:16Yes.
08:17Because I didn't understand
08:20the genius approach to filmmaking
08:24that you have cultivated over these years.
08:27The efficiency,
08:29I think is the right way to put it.
08:30And part of it is born of your clarity,
08:32like your instincts and clarity.
08:34It's so strong.
08:35So you've made the movie in your mind.
08:38You already have the cut of the film in your mind,
08:40which is a gift to any actor working
08:42because it means the director is not just like,
08:43let's see what we find today.
08:45Like, you know what you want.
08:46You communicate with your crew
08:48with so much respect and dignity
08:49so they move with you efficiently,
08:53quickly, decisively.
08:55And you don't waste time.
08:57You have figured out where we waste time on set
09:00and you have chiseled away at the process
09:03to be, I mean, it is such a well-oiled machine.
09:07It doesn't even begin to describe it,
09:08but it was disorienting for me,
09:09you know, in the beginning.
09:10I had a couple of days where I was like,
09:11well, we can't be moving on.
09:13Well, I'm not done.
09:13I'm just warming up.
09:15So I also had to learn to come to set
09:17with a different level of readiness,
09:18like to be like ready to go out the gates.
09:20Like I'm not going to do the scene six times.
09:22I'm going to do it twice, maybe.
09:24And to trust you and to trust the flow of it.
09:26Like it was really like jumping into-
09:28What was that like to let go of that?
09:30I've worked with actors who've been trained
09:32and who've been in the business for a long time.
09:33They come in and they go, wait a minute.
09:35How are we moving this fast?
09:37Why are we going this fast?
09:38And there's this level of doubting themselves
09:42where you really have to lean into trusting the director.
09:45That's why I was glad we had a friendship
09:47that helped us understand that going in.
09:49Yes, that we could communicate about it.
09:50And I think it was really helpful for me
09:52because I learned to just jump in
09:54and to trust my instincts more
09:56and to let go of like the precious, gentle process
10:00and to just go for it,
10:01which I think is also really right for Charity Adams.
10:04But also I think it really helped me
10:09to be able to say to you, I need one more.
10:12Like to learn how to advocate for myself
10:13when you felt like you had it.
10:15But I was like, both as an actor and producer,
10:17I think we have one other color
10:19that we might want to use in the edit.
10:21So I think there was a nice kind of collaborative.
10:24Yeah, and I would be like, okay, I'm ready to go.
10:26She's like, no, no, I need one more.
10:28I was like, okay, well, I'm going to keep rolling.
10:29Let's do a series.
10:31We'll go back to one, everybody, back to one.
10:33And sometimes you would embarrass me and say,
10:34we're going to do one more for Carrie.
10:36One more for Carrie, yes.
10:37Because I knew it when I saw it.
10:40Because I'm behind the camera, I'm the audience.
10:42I'm watching, I'm seeing, oh no, no, she just nailed that.
10:46She's like, I need one more.
10:46I'm like, okay, you can go and take that one more.
10:48But we're going to do this one for Carrie
10:50because I know she just nailed it.
10:52And that was more often than not.
10:54Soldiers, I am Captain Charity Adams.
10:59Welcome to the Women's Army Corps.
11:00I'm going to borrow some courage from the cards
11:02to ask you something that has been on my heart to ask you,
11:05but I haven't wanted to.
11:05It's on this card?
11:06Yes.
11:08Well, the question on the card is,
11:09why did the 6888 feel like the right project
11:12for us to reunite on?
11:13And for me, the question was really like,
11:15I'm so moved and honored when I hear you say
11:19that you thought of me for this character,
11:20but I don't know why.
11:22Are you kidding me?
11:23I'm so curious because I do see myself as belonging
11:26to a community of such extraordinary actresses.
11:29And so I just wonder, how did I get this lucky?
11:31What was it about her that made you think of Carrie?
11:37Really?
11:37Yes.
11:39From the time I started writing, I would hear you.
11:43Because you're so loud.
11:44Yes, exactly.
11:45You can hear my outside voice.
11:46No, no, no.
11:47I would hear you.
11:47I would see your face.
11:48I was just like, this is Carrie.
11:49This is Carrie.
11:50And I talked to Nicole Avon about it.
11:51And the other producers like, Carrie, you think she'll do it?
11:53I was like, I don't know.
11:55We can ask.
11:55Well, let's just make sure the script is really, really great
11:58so she'll say yes to it.
11:59Oh my gosh.
12:00No, seriously.
12:01These are the conversations that we were having.
12:03But also the understanding that you hadn't had the opportunity
12:06to really stretch.
12:08Because when people, unfortunately, in this business,
12:11they'll tie you down to your last thing.
12:13Yes.
12:13Oh, she's Olivia Pope.
12:14Oh, she's television.
12:15Oh, she's last King of Scotland.
12:17Or she was supporting here.
12:18She was this.
12:19But understanding that I know the gears that you have.
12:24And I've seen them.
12:25And unfortunately, I think that a lot of times directors
12:28will get in their own way and not let the artist soar.
12:33Be like, how far can we go here to see what's there?
12:36And I knew all of that was in you already.
12:38So to watch you click, click, click, click, click, click,
12:41shift in all these gears for charity.
12:43I was like, oh yeah, this is it.
12:45I knew it.
12:45So fun.
12:46I knew it.
12:46It's funny when I hear you talk about directing in that way.
12:48It's almost like parenting, right?
12:50Like you create a space for a child to soar and not get
12:54in the way of what's in them.
12:56Like I want them to have all their gears.
12:58Yeah.
12:59They did not send us because they thought we could do it.
13:03We are here because they are sure we cannot.
13:07As I think about all of this and all the incredible things
13:10you've done, motherhood being at the top of that list.
13:14And marriage.
13:15And marriage.
13:15And marriage.
13:16I love how you love them.
13:17What's on your bucket list?
13:18What's there to do?
13:20Oh, I've been thinking about this because for two reasons.
13:23One is my mom and I decided when she was diagnosed
13:28with cancer that we would write for her a list.
13:30But we wouldn't call it a bucket list.
13:32We would call it a live-it list.
13:35And so we've been chipping away at her live-it list,
13:37which I really love.
13:39And it's part of why she's coming with us to Europe.
13:41And I had the profound honor with your help,
13:44with your glorious support of getting a star
13:47on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
13:49Kerry Washington.
13:50That was on my dad's live-it list.
13:54My dad, it was something my dad really, really wanted for me.
13:57Like to the point where when it would be announced
13:59that other people were getting a star,
14:00he'd be like, where's your MF star?
14:03You should have a star.
14:05And so I think I need to devote some more time now.
14:09I think I'm in a place where I need to create my live-it list.
14:13Like I need to make sure that I'm not just focused
14:17on making sure that my kids' dreams come true
14:19and that my parents' dreams come true,
14:21but that I'm really clear about my own dreams.
14:24And some of that is that so much
14:26of what I've wanted for myself, I have.
14:28Like a friendship like this,
14:29opportunities like the 6888, the marriage, the children.
14:34Like I'm so, so, so blessed.
14:36So I think it's gonna take some courage
14:39to continue to dream up more opportunities.
14:42But I know there's room for that for me.
14:46Can I add something to it?
14:48Yes, please.
14:49I'm open to suggestions.
14:50I feel like live-it list is the name of the movie.
14:54I feel like you should write it.
14:55I feel like it should be about you and your mom
14:58and where you are in life and what's next
15:00and creating that list and seeing the world
15:02and what that means for mother and daughter.
15:04Oh my goodness.
15:05And wife and mother.
15:07It could be really powerful.
15:08Even as a book, the live-it list,
15:10I think you should really lean into that.
15:12Okay.
15:13Wow, that's fun.
15:15Yeah, make it fictional.
15:16Maybe the book is real and tells the story,
15:19but fictional so that you can let the characters
15:23do the things that you would never imagine yourself doing.
15:26Or you do them.
15:27Yeah, yeah, yeah.
15:28Okay.
15:31What is the secret to a long lasting Hollywood friendship?
15:35You have good ones.
15:36Like you have some real,
15:38I watch the way you walk through the world.
15:40Like the people that you hold close,
15:42you really hold close and nurture those friendships.
15:46What's the secret to that?
15:48This business is so short-sighted
15:53and it's so selfish.
15:56So if you want a long lasting friendship in this business,
16:00lean in to the person, really listen,
16:02really check in because we're so good at,
16:05oh, we're fine because we perform.
16:07We know how to fool the world that everything's okay.
16:11Because when I say, how are you?
16:13I really want to know.
16:14I know, you're one of those people where
16:16when you ask me, I have no choice but to tell the truth.
16:19Yeah.
16:19Because you'll ask me again.
16:20Again and again, because of what I feel
16:22when I'm looking into your eyes is
16:25I want to look past the mask that we show the world.
16:27That's right.
16:28And look in and go, okay, are you really okay?
16:30And also to hold people's confidence,
16:33hold their confidences, hold it so sacredly
16:36so that when they tell you something,
16:37they know it's a safe place
16:39because a lot of us don't have that in this business.
16:41That's so true.
16:42Yeah, where we can be honest and be truthful
16:45and not be sold out.
16:47Yeah.
16:47So all of those are really, really important
16:49to have a long lasting friendship in this business.
16:54That's beautiful.
16:55Yeah.
16:56I'm grateful.
16:56And we do.
16:57Yes.
16:57And we do.
16:58That I get to be one of your people.
16:59That's right.
17:00Yeah.