Kerry Washington

Kerry Marisa Washington was born January 31, 1977 in the Bronx, NY. As a young girl Washington performed with the TADA! Youth Theater teen group and attended the Spence School in Manhattan, graduating in 1994. She attended George Washington University, graduating in 1998 Phi Beta Kappa with a double major in anthropology and sociology. She also studied at Michael Howard Studios in New York City. Washington made her screen debut in the ABC telefilm "Magical Make-Over" in 1994 and was in the cast of the 1996 PBS sketch comedy-style educational series "Standard Deviants." She went on to appear in several movies, including "Save the Last Dance" in 2001 and "The Human Stain" in 2003.

In 2010, Washington made her Broadway debut in David Mamet's "Race" alongside James Spader, David Alan Grier, and Richard Thomas. She also appeared in Tyler Perry's 2010 film "For Colored Girls." Then in October 2011, it was confirmed that she would star in Quentin Tarantino's film "Django Unchained," which was released in 2012 and received universal critical acclaim.

Since April 2012, Washington has starred in the ABC drama series "Scandal" created by Shonda Rimes as Olivia Pope, a crisis manager who runs her own crisis management firm called Pope & Associates in Washington, D.C. Her character works for high profile figures, most notably the President of the United States. The show has been a commercial and critical success, and has been called one of the most talked about drama series on Facebook, Twitter by Buzzfeed.