KERRY WASHINGTON COVERS PARADE MAGAZINE

The star of Django, Peeples, and Scandal sits down with Parade Magazine to discuss her acting success, in an interview dubbed The Game Changer: On her work on the controversial film Django Unchained: I feel like I barely survived Django emotionally. The violence. Hearing the N-word every day. It cost me a lot psychologically, but it was worth it to tell that story. On her recent work schedule: I had two days between finishing Django and starting up again on Scandal. It was nuts. That first day back I had to walk across the Rose Garden in heels. I thought, ‘I don’t remember how to walk like Olivia Pope anymore. ‘ I’d been barefoot in the woods for months playing a slave. On whether, as a member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, she is aware of President Obama’s view of the show: I haven’t wanted to ask the president his opinion of the show. But I have lots of friends in the administration who love it. We make D.C. look sexy and exciting. On her role in the new Tyler Perry-produced romantic comedy Peeples, and knowing when to lighten up: I’m a goofy person. That’s how I ended up in Peeples. Tyler Perry saw me joking around…and said, ‘I had no idea you were this silly.