No strangers to success, Kerry Washington and Don Cheadle are two of the hottest actors working in Hollywood today. Each plays the lead character in a blazing hot television show, Cheadle takes us to dark, sordid and hilarious places as Marty Kaan on Showtime's House of Lies and Washington plays Olivia Pope, the political fixer/presidential mistress on ABC's Scandal. And for their troubles, they've both received Primetime Emmy nominations this year in a contest that is sure to be closely watched and hotly debated.
They talented pair sat down with Variety editor Jon Weisman for a frank discussion on what it's like to live and work in Hollywood. Here's a brief excerpt from their conversation and I encourage you to watch the video in its entirety. I found it encouraging and enlightening and I hope you will too!
Variety: Looking back on your own careers, what was the ebb and flow like and what was it like trying to get started?
Don: It's so funny: Kerry and I did a movie a long time ago called The United States of Leland, and I was looking at the cast list of that movie. Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Jenna Malone, Kevin Spacey, Chris Klein, Michael Pena...
Kerry: Wow, yeah!
Don: You know, all people that are still working, which is pretty fascinating. But I came out of school -- I graduated in 1986 -- in a time when those great TV shows, LA Law and Hill Street Blues and all the comedies that were on TV, and (for) all of those roles and guest spots you could get as a no-name actor that had no track record, no resume. If you were good, you could get that shot. Those shots are all being filled now with people who have name recognition. And that's tough. People come up to me now and ask me, "What can I do to start?" and I have no idea. When I started acting, I walked into a room with a casting director; I met the producer, the director. Now they go in a room and there's a camera in a corner or they're taping themselves at home (and) emailing them in, and that's just antithetical to the way I -- I don't even know how to start now. I count myself very fortunate. I don't think I'm "there," quote unquote. I always feel like it's a grind.
Kerry: I actually think that attitude is what keeps the actors that are consistently working actors, that's what keeps you in the game. ... If you look at someone like Diahann Carroll, if you ask someone who Diahann Carroll is, it depends on how old they are. People of my generation or younger are like, "Isn't that Whitley's mother from A Different World?" Or people from my mother's generation will give you Julia. In between, there's Agnes of God and Dynasty. ... People like Rita Moreno and Julie Andrews, Barbra Streisand keep reinventing themselves. They directed, they produced film and television and theater. We are constantly willing to work in all different mediums because you just want to work ... it's about continuing to grow as an artist and as a craftsperson.
~~
To read more of the transcript visit Variety.com and don't forget to leave your thoughts in the comments below!
