Kerry Washington Is 'So Happy' People Are Watching American Son to 'Deepen Their Compassion'
Kerry Washington is reflecting on her 2019 film American Son, and is grateful for everyone choosing to watch it amid the killing of George Floyd and subsequent protests over racial injustice and police brutality.
In the powerful Netflix film, based on the acclaimed Broadway play of the same name by Christopher Demos-Brown, Washington plays the mother of a biracial teenage boy Jamal who goes missing. The story follows the mother as she struggles to be taken seriously by law enforcement in the search for her son, exploring themes of race and interracial relationships.
"It makes me so happy that people are watching #AmericanSon on @netflix to deepen their compassion and understanding," Washington shared on Instagram Thursday. "My dream for this film was to spark conversations that would lead to change."
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A post shared by Kerry Washington (@kerrywashington) on Jun 3, 2020 at 7:23pm PDT
When the movie first came out last year, Washington opened up about stepping into this fictional role, reflecting on the not-so-fictional aspect of it as a mother to two black children herself.
"There was just kind of the personal 'I am the mother of black kids.' I felt like I was pulling from that personally, but also pulling from this larger historical and sociological framework," she told The Hollywood Reporter in December. "I had kind of the psychology of Kendra, from a personal sense, but there was, there was also a dipping into pain that's not just mine."
"This is centuries of fears of black moms. I had a wall in my dressing room that had pictures and names and cutouts. It was a place for me to acknowledge the pain inflicted on black children that's state sanctioned," she added. "Just really a place to remind myself and kind of honor and remember how black lives have been destroyed or attacked by state violence. It's interesting to even talk about it so academically because it really felt like every day, sometimes twice a day, I was diving into this pool of every parent's absolute worst nightmare."
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David Lee/Netflix Kerry Washington/ AMERICAN SON
In that same interview, Washington also touched on the play's writer Christopher Demos-Brown and his intent behind making Jamal half-white.
"For the first time audience members who are not black begin to understand the pain, because it really does feel like Jamal belongs to everybody," the actress explained. "You can feel white audiences own him, and not in a colonial way but in a family way. You can feel their love and attachment and a sense of shared identity with him and understanding with him."
"So I think that's part of what's powerful about the piece is that it is an opportunity for black folks, for us to see ourselves and have our journey affirmed and acknowledged and mirrored and held up in the canon. But it's also an opportunity for other communities to allow themselves to walk in our shoes and experience, from a truly empathetic perspective, what it would feel like if one of your own was facing the challenges that one of our own does every day," Washington said.
In the days following Floyd's death in police custody, Washington has remained outspoken about the Black Lives Matter movement and ways for her fans and followers to advocate and support the black community.
Over the weekend, she led a "loving movement/yoga/meditation" session on Instagram Live to help her fans cope with recent events and trauma.
For every person who joined her class, she made a donation to Black Visions Collective and the Louisville Community Bail Fund.
To help combat systemic racism, consider learning from or donating to these organizations:
Campaign Zero (joincampaignzero.org) which works to end police brutality in America through research-proven strategies.
ColorofChange.org works to make government more responsive to racial disparities.
National Cares Mentoring Movement (caresmentoring.org) provides social and academic support to help black youth succeed in college and beyond.
