Kerry Washington reveals the lessons she learned from Jamie Foxx while working on “Ray”
Kerry Washington is giving Jamie Foxx his flowers.
In her new memoir Thicker Than Water (out Sept 26.), Washington shares that she gleaned important lessons from her Ray co-star about how to be at the top of the call sheet, and you can hear an exclusive excerpt from the audiobook version above.
The beloved artist and activist brings fans into her private world as she explores her career trajectory and intimate details of her upbringing. Washington is charting the course of her life after a shocking piece of news allows her to reevaluate who she is and what brought her to that point. Between the impact specific roles have had on her life and how personal traumas have shaped her, this book allows fans of Washington's work to get to know her like never before.
Which includes the lessons she learned while working on Ray. Directed by Taylor Hackford and released in 2004, the film rocketed Foxx to superstardom, with the pianist and comedian winning the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of iconic musician Ray Charles. Foxx not only left a mark with audiences and Academy voters, but with his costar as well. "Years later, on the set of Scandal, whenever anybody complimented me on my leadership skills as a number one on the call sheet, I was always sure to credit Jamie for setting the best possible example," writes Washington, who notes that from their first day of filming, Foxx had her back.
Playing Della Bea Robinson, one of Charles' wives, was Washington's first time doing accent work, and after putting in a lot of time to perfect her southern accent, she was worried about how it sounded while filming her first scene with Foxx — one where Ray teaches Della Bea to listen for the sound of a hummingbird. "Jamie said to me, 'I can tell how much work you've put into the accent,'" she recalls in the book. "But I can see you thinking about it. Now you need to let it go.'" Watching the scene back now, Washington sees how her self-consciousness reads as her character's first date jitters, but she remembers the source of that insecurity.
Everett Collection Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington in 'Ray'
Washington also recalls how during a scene they shot months later, Foxx stepped in while she was repeating herself in every take. A piece of advice he gave her to keep searching helped Washington break out of the cycle during the emotional scene where Della Bea finds Ray's heroin paraphernalia. This support from her costar reminded Washington that acting is human and about constant discovery, which the actress has taken with her as she leads projects like Scandal and Unprisoned.
Thicker Than Water is a powerful telling of Washington's childhood and early days of her career through her present, where a shocking truth about the actress' family brings her whole life into perspective. It is a deeply moving exploration of the events that have led Washington to the person she had become through stories about traumatic past events, many of her most beloved roles, and how her own family came to be.
Thicker Than Water will be released September 26. Listen to an exclusive audio excerpt of the memoir above.
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