Kerry Washington felt ‘unsafe’ first time she was approached by a fan

Kerry Washington has recalled how she felt “unsafe” when she was first recognised by a fan.
The actress rose to prominence after scoring a part in 2001 movie Save the Last Dance and has since had a string of major roles in films and as Olivia Pope in hit ABC drama Scandal.
In spite of her worldwide success, Kerry remains fiercely private, and she has now shared that an incident early on in her career triggered her cautious behaviour.
“The first time somebody recognised me on the street, they were like, ‘Kerry.’ And I was like, ‘Hey,’ because I assumed it was maybe somebody I went to college with,” she remembered in an interview with Marie Claire magazine. “And I hugged them because I assumed I knew them, and they were like, ‘I’m such a huge fan.’ And I felt so unsafe. I was like, ‘Oh, I’m now in a situation where I have no boundaries with this person, and I have no idea who they are, and I can’t do this anymore.’ It was the beginning of me learning to hold the world at arm’s length just for my own sense of safety.”
Kerry went on to discuss the importance of the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements fighting sexual harassment in the wake of a wave of sexual abuse and harassment allegations against leading figures in the entertainment industry. She explained that she wants to continue fundraising for the Legal Defence Fund, and not only on behalf of Hollywood.
“Our priority has been to not reinvent the wheel, to not feel like, ‘Oh we’re going to come in and do what nobody has been able to do,’ but rather to acknowledge that there are so many communities of powerful women committed to advocacy, and our job is to leverage whatever power we have to support that work, grow that work, shed light on that work,” the 41-year-old said.
Meanwhile, Kerry is currently gearing up to return to theatre for a Broadway run of play American Son. And she is very much looking forward to hitting the stage once more.
“I love being in the room with your audience. There’s something very meditative and monastic to me about theatre because in TV, every single day is different,” she smiled.