Kerry Washington says she had to choose between being pretty or intelligent growing up.
The ‘Scandal’ star is glad there are more strong woman – who are both "fashion-forward and fierce" – for young girls to look up to.
She told Women’s Wear Daily: "We live in a world now where there are more role models for that. I feel like when I was growing up, there was this idea that you had to be either smart or pretty, you know, that you had to choose between looking good or being intelligent.
"But I feel like now you have women like Michelle Obama who are just throwing those ideas out the window, and Marissa Mayer, who are like, ‘No, I’m going to be fashion-forward and fierce.’"
Meanwhile, the 39-year-old actress has a strong woman to look up to in her mother Valerie and admits she was amazed when her mother appeared so unfazed whilst watching one of her sex scenes.
She said previously: "My mother’s like this very elegant, graceful intellectual, but she will sit through a sex scene like nobody’s business. She doesn’t sweat at all.
"And last week, actually, I watched our ‘Scandal’ episode with her, and I had like a three-minute crazy sex scene with Scott Foley, and I was like sweating and fidgeting. And, my mother was like, ‘Good work. Very good work.’"
Kerry Washington’s tricky childhood
