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Kerry Washington Was Fired From Two TV Pilots For Not Being ‘Hood’

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SOURCE: Mike Coppola | Getty

Poised and graceful Kerry Washington was once told she wasn’t “hood enough” for a role in a piloted series, Variety reports.

Wait, we remember her role in Save the Last Dance, where she was able to channel it then, so what happened?

The actress explains that before she played the role of Olivia Pope in the hit TV series Scandal, she went after two other roles.

“Before Scandal I was actually cast in two other pilots,” she explained. “Both went to series, but I was fired and recast. For both, it was because they wanted me to sound more ‘girlfriend,’ more like ‘hood,’ more ‘urban.’”

Well that was their loss because her new role in the political drama is much more fitting of her talent.

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For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.