Am I hallucinating or does Kerry Washington look sort of odd/off on this cover of Self Magazine? It’s like they morphed her face with Jada Pinkett’s face. Anyway, the fall TV season is coming up soon (yay FARGO!), which means a return for Kerry’s lead role in Scandal, which means we’ll be seeing more of Kerry in the weeks and months to come. Kerry gave birth to her daughter last year, probably April 2014 (we don’t know for sure). Kerry’s body seemed to “snap back” really quickly after giving birth, but then again, she didn’t make a big deal about it like some celebrities. I like her for that – even though I think she’s a little too privacy-obsessed, I like the fact that she wasn’t lecturing everybody about her pregnancy and post-pregnancy diets, workouts, etc. What I’m saying is that Kerry doing pilates with Self Magazine feels like a new thing for her – she’s actually talking about some aspect of her private life! Highlights:
She loves pilates: “There are a lot of forms of exercise where you have to leave yourself out of the room while you force yourself to do this thing. With pilates, I get to bring my true self. I cry, I laugh. I get to go: Where is my body today? What do I need today? How can I take care of myself and push myself past my comfort zone? How can I be both loving and challenging?”
She does pilates really early in the morning: “I try to get it in so I can be back with my kid early…[but] I have to take care of myself in order to live life the way I want to. It’s important to have rest days. But in the long run, if I don’t work out for, like, three days, I feel worse, not better.”
Getting her body “back” after pregnancy: “I’ve been really focused on not being ‘back’ to anything, but being the best version of myself right now. My body is the site of a miracle now. I don’t want to be pre-miracle.” In fact when her manager told her she was “back,” Washington took issue with the phrase. “She meant it as a total compliment, but we had this great conversation where I was like, ‘You know what? I try really hard not to use that language, because it’s not about going backward in life.’”
Olivia Pope made her more capable: “It makes my heart smile to think that maybe part of the reason I’m taking all this on is because of Olivia. She truly believes that she can handle every situation, and I do feel that has bled into my life. I have more of a sense of my capacity to do anything.”
She’s a lightweight: “I’m such a lightweight that if I drink, it takes me a couple of days to recover. So I prefer to do it on a beach, not when I have a three-page monologue the next day.”
I genuinely like what she says about not using the language of “going back” or “getting back.” I also enjoy the fact that she’s making exercise about how she feels, as in she does it to feel good and strong rather than “I feel I have to look a certain way.” As for Kerry being a lightweight… I’ve gotten to the age now where I don’t understand how my contemporaries can drink more than one cocktail or beer in an evening. I drink so rarely that I get completely sh-tfaced on just one glass of whatever. I get drunk just by taking a dose of Nyquil!!! So I feel her on that.
Photos courtesy of Self.
I’m sure exercise does make her feel great, but I think she also said she does pilates up to six times per week. Pretty sure she also does this because she’s committed to remaining a size zero. Nothing wrong with that, but please don’t try to sell me the “I only care about how I feel not how I look” and “my post-partum body is gorgeous because it’s the site of a miracle” lines.
^^yes.
I like her, but with regard to your comment, Pilates several times a week plus post baby…the difference in her face is she’s lost too much collagen in her face. I know after mine, I aged what I felt was 10 years. Better now but I’m not obsessed with working out at that level, nor would I want to. She seems to like the mental release from working out as well.
While Site of a Miracle is extremely Eyerolly as Fuck Kudos on her “getting Back stance”
Fellow Lightweight (One Glass of riesling or moscato is Lights out)
I’m right there with you with eyeroll-y ‘site of a miracle’ – and I’m a mom.
But I do really like her stance on the whole ‘getting back’ language. It was really hard for me to deal with the pressure after I had my son – from my ex-husband, his family, basically everyone – to look the same way as I did before. I’m finally at the same weight but my body’s porportions have changed (I have curves!). I really don’t envy anyone who might have to deal with that in the public sphere.
I’ll finish the bottle for you
Agree with both comments. “My body is the site of a miracle and I don’t want to go back to pre-miracle days” is the new mom cliché. My niece posted it on Facebook last month in almost those exact words. I’m very sentimental about motherhood in general, but this one makes me gag a little.
But I think in every phase of life, it’s wise to try to be the best you can now. There’s no going back to your 16 year old body, so why try?
Yeah, that was all a bit Goop-ish, but she’s so much more likable, I’ll give her a pass. And I do like the moving forward not backwards comments.
I have no issue with her comments. She’s a pretty tiny woman in general. I mean if you’re tiny on TV you’re really small in real life. Anyway, I have no side eye for her here. I get what she’s saying about working out to make her feel better. While I am far from a gym rat, if I am away too long from exercise, its a lot harder to recover. As for her image, I appreciate that she doesn’t reflect too hard on her appearance and works to maintain a modicum of privacy. I have no issues with her face either. I think its just makeup.
I feel Kerry on the alcohol thing. I wasn’t raised with any alcohol in the house (not even for cooking) because I was raised by a Seventh Day Adventist. When I tried it for myself, I thought it tasted like paint thinner (and yes, I’ve had the unfortunate experience of tasting paint thinner). I can’t do it, as much as that sets me apart at times. I’m also of partial Native American racial makeup, and we are rather notorious for not tolerating any alcohol – so I abstain. I also remember hearing that African Americans tend to have lower tolerances, so I don’t blame her for foregoing the stuff.
She has a nice attitude. Good for her.
Wish I could still do Pilates. Lymph node biopsy surgery under my arm screwed up the nerves through the shoulder blade and neck and Pilates really aggravates it
Ugh sorry to hear that Lilac. But hi five. Lymph node biopsy in my neck. Luckily mine turned out to be something manageable. Hopefully yours was too.
tiny women obsess about their weight just as big women do, i learned as a bigger woman not to shame my tiny 4 foot 11 in 100 lb friend into not talking about her weight. They gain 10 lbs and it feels like a lot to them. I’ve really wanted to try pilates but can’t find a class near me,
Give me a break, total eyeroll
I feel like Kerry Washington often looks weird on magazine covers, this one included. It’s strange because she’s so beautiful and usually very photogenic, but for some reason magazine editors always seem to choose the weirdest photos of her for their covers. It’s happened several times now and I don’t know why!
I think on this one they chose a photo where she was just starting to smile or something. It’s odd, and you’re right, the photos chosen of her are often strange. Maybe she doesn’t photograph well in still photos? There are a few other actors like that too. She is beautiful though, and I think she’s very smart and grounded.
I am officially obsessed with scandal and so is my husband.
I don’t think she looks any different than usual. She always reminds me of a puffer fish.
My body has went through the miracle of growing babies 3 times and I still want my old body back. I don’t need my body to remind me of what it did, I can look at my kids for that. Besides, isn’t it even more of a miracle when your body snaps back after being invaded by a 9 lb 6 oz gigantor baby?
I don’t get caught up on TV shows in general but watching a couple seasons of Scandal on Netflix got me hooked. I do have to giggle at the facial expressions of Olivia Pope when she just can’t help herself around a man, though. To be fair, if Scott Foley showed up at my door without a shirt…..well….I guess I get it!
I really like the minimal makeup look on her. Can anyone else see Scarlett Johanssen or is that just me?
I agree with the comment on her face on the cover. I recall a difference in her in the last episode of Scandal. She’s lost so much body weight that at a certain age, we (women) don’t retain the collagen in our face. Regardless, I’m a huge fan and adore her.