Kerry Washington on Bringing Marginalized Stories to the Forefront (Exclusive)

The actress also talks about her latest project, the documentary 'The Fight.'

Kerry Washington continues to tell incredibly timely stories about race in America. Her latest project, a documentary she produced called The Fight, follows American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawyers fighting for issues like gender equality, reproductive rights and immigration.

"This film is so important right now because it's the film that our hearts need," Washington tells ET's Kevin Frazier ahead of the documentary's release. "We need to feel that kind of inspiration and hope and excitement about the fight ahead of us that these lawyers walk with in the world."

Washington -- who this week was nominated for four Emmys -- says that while one might feel overwhelmed about what to focus on, whether it's LGBTQ rights, police violence on Black lives, immigration, voting, or reproductive rights, they can "go to the ACLU and they are in that fight."

"They are fighting that fight for all of us," she explains. "It's so important to have a film like this that showcases the courage and tenacity and passion and the joy that goes into being in the frontlines of all of those issues so that we can all be inspired to do what we can, and also to do what we can in our own communities. But also, we can support these warriors who are out there fighting for us."

Some might call Washington a warrior herself. From Little Fires Everywhere to the Netflix film American Son, to being a powerful Black lead on Scandal for seven seasons, Washington brings marginalized stories to the forefront.

"I think we are having a lot of cultural changes," she notes. "For me, it's really exciting to be telling stories, championing narratives that allow marginalized people to be at the center of stories."

"Whether that's Black folks, women, members of the LGBTQ community, immigrants, people of color, I do think it's an exciting time because we have a lot of work to do," she adds. "But there's a lot of movement around getting that work done and I think people are, for the first time in my lifetime, really understanding that nobody is free until we are all free."

"We have to be fighting for all of us to be seen and to matter in our society," Washington states.

As for The Fight, Washington is inspired by these "real-life Avengers" and "rock stars," as she calls them. ACLU attorney Dale Ho, on his end, also tells ET that he hopes that the audience gets inspired by the range of issues that the organization has been working on during this "difficult time in our country."

"[I hope people] are inspired to join the fight in whatever ways they can, according to the gifts that they have," Ho expresses. "Because every one, I think, can contribute in different ways. Not everyone goes to court like we do, but at the end of the day it's not lawyers who are gonna right this ship. It's going to be ordinary people doing what they can."

The Fight arrives in select U.S. theaters if restrictions allow and On Demand on July 31.

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