1994–2009: Beginnings and breakthrough premiere of
She Hate Me in 2004 Washington got her
Screen Actors Guild (SAG) card as a requirement for a commercial that she starred in. Washington made her screen debut in the
ABC telefilm Magical Make-Over (1994). and became a spokesperson for
L'Oréal, appearing in commercials and ads alongside fellow actresses,
Scarlett Johansson and
Eva Longoria,
Gong Li,
Michelle Yeoh,
Dian Sastrowardoyo,
Aishwarya Rai,
Maya Karin and model
Doutzen Kroes. Washington narrated the critically acclaimed documentary about the New Orleans–based teenage
TBC Brass Band,
From the Mouthpiece on Back. She also appears in
Maxwell's "Bad Habits" video. In 2009, Washington performed in
The People Speak, a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian
Howard Zinn's ''
A People's History of the United States''.
2010–2018: Breakthrough and Scandal In 2010, Washington made her
Broadway debut in the original production of
David Mamet's play
Race, alongside
James Spader (with whom she worked on
Boston Legal),
David Alan Grier, and
Richard Thomas. She also appeared as a part of the ensemble in
Tyler Perry's 2010 drama film
For Colored Girls. She was invited to join the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in June 2012 along with 175 other individuals. From April 2012 to April 2018, Washington starred in the
ABC drama series
Scandal, created by
Shonda Rhimes, as
Olivia Pope, a
crisis manager who runs her own crisis management firm called Olivia Pope & Associates in
Washington, D.C. In this position, she worked for high-profile figures, most notably the President of the United States, who was also her on-off lover. The show was a commercial and critical success, and was called one of the most talked about drama series on
Facebook and
Twitter. Washington's performance earned positive reviews, and in 2013, she won the award for
Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series at the
44th NAACP Image Awards and was also presented with the
NAACP President's Award. The same year, she was named "Favorite actress" and
Scandal "Favorite Drama" of the year at
TV Guide's Magazine Fan Favorite Awards and was also crowned 2013's "TV Star of the Year" by the editors of the magazine. For her work in the second season of
Scandal, Washington was nominated for an
Emmy at the
65th Primetime Emmy Awards and
66th Primetime Emmy Awards, becoming the first
African-American woman to be nominated in the category of
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 18 years.
The Boston Globe ranked
Scandal tenth place of its list of "Top 10 political TV shows" in 2015. In addition to Washington's acting, her costumes as Olivia Pope attracted positive attention, prompting
Vanity Fair to name the character one of "The Top Ten Best-Dressed TV Characters" in 2013. According to the show's costume designer, Lyn Paolo, the success of Olivia Pope's wardrobe was based on "this idea of having [her character] wear such soft, feminine colors in a man's world". In 2014, Washington and Paolo won the Influencer Award at the 2014 Ace Fashion Awards for Olivia Pope's stylish clothes on the show. In 2013, Washington ranked No. 2 in
People magazine's 100 Most Beautiful people and was named Woman of the Year by
Glamour magazine. The same year, she ranked No. 20 on
Forbes magazine's annual list of the highest-paid actors in television and was announced as the new face of
Neutrogena skin care. Washington hosted
Saturday Night Live on November 2, 2013, where she impersonated
Michelle Obama and
Oprah Winfrey in a cold opening sketch that satirized criticism of
Saturday Night Live for not having had any black female cast members for many years. Washington played the lead role in
Confirmation, an HBO movie directed by
Rick Famuyiwa about
Anita Hill's testimony during
Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination, which aired in 2016. For her role in
Confirmation, Washington was nominated for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie at the
68th Primetime Emmy Awards, as well as the
Critics' Choice Awards' equivalent the same year.
Confirmation was also nominated for the
Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie at the Emmys. That same year, Washington launched Simpson Street, a production company, which has an overall deal with
ABC Studios. In 2017, Washington voiced a role in
Cars 3. In 2018, Washington made her directorial debut on
Scandal, directing the tenth episode of the seventh season. She also appeared as Olivia Pope in two episodes of
How to Get Away with Murder, as part of a crossover with Scandal. Scandal concluded after seven seasons in April 2018. That same year, Washington starred in the Broadway play
American Son written by Christopher Demos-Brown, following two parents arriving at a police station in the middle of the night looking for answers.
Since 2019 In 2019, Washington directed the seventh episode of the second season of
Showtime's
SMILF. She then starred in
Live in Front of a Studio Audience on
ABC in a recreation of
The Jeffersons, portraying the role of Helen Willis. The same year, she reprised her role in the film adaptation of the Broadway play
American Son, which she also executive produced, for
Netflix. The film had its world premiere at the
Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2019, and was released on November 1, 2019. In 2020, Washington served as an executive producer on
The Fight, a documentary film revolving around legal battles lawyers for the
ACLU face during the Trump administration, which had its world premiere at the
Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2020. That same year, she served as an executive producer and starred alongside
Reese Witherspoon in the
Hulu miniseries
Little Fires Everywhere, an adaptation of
Celeste Ng's 2017
novel of the same name. Washington directed the ninth episode of the fourth season of the
HBO comedy series
Insecure. In September 2020, she won the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) as a producer of the television special
Live in Front of a Studio Audience. In December 2020, Washington starred in
The Prom, directed by
Ryan Murphy for
Netflix, as Mrs. Greene. From 2022, Washington will star in the recurring role of fourth-grade teacher Rayshelle Peyton in
The Simpsons. She plays Professor Clarissa Dovey in the
film adaptation of
Soman Chainani's
The School for Good and Evil. Washington will next star in the war drama
The Six Triple Eight directed by
Tyler Perry, and in the action thriller
Shadow Force. She will also star alongside an ensemble cast in
Rian Johnson's third installment of the
Knives Out film series, titled
Wake Up Dead Man. ==Personal life==