Kerry Washington Calls Motherhood Her 'Perfect,' Muses About 'Being Covered in Spit-Up' While Working
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Kerry Washington doesn't seem to mind having to balance being a mother of two, and playing Olivia Pope on ABC's hit drama Scandal.

In the June issue of Net-A-Porter magazine, the 40-year-old actress reveals what life is really like as a working mom in Hollywood. During the interview, the magazine notes that Washington's 7-month-old son, Caleb, is "cradled at her breast for a midday meal."


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"I can be covered in spit-up on a conference call while I'm pumping and that's OK, because this is my perfect," she quips. "It may not be somebody else's, but this is mine."

The 40-year-old actress also praises Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes for her ability to raise three children and head up several shows on ABC. "Shonda's got I-don't-know-how-many shows now, plus three kids, and she just figures it out," she muses. "However busy I feel, Shonda feels busier, so I'm just going to rise to the occasion. She's been a real role model. Seeing the community she's created and the work ethic -- I feel like there should be more of this in the world."


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As for her work life, Washington recalls when Scandal fans tweeted asking for Olivia Pope's expertise immediately after Donald Trump won the presidential election in November. While she admits that she felt "incredibly honored," the three-time Emmy nominee notes that there's a political crisis manager in all of us.

"Millions of people were like, ‘We need Olivia Pope to fix this.’ On one hand, I was incredibly honored -- ‘Oh, look, we’re part of the zeitgeist’ – but I was also a bit infuriated," she says. "I was like, ‘No, this is your country. You’re the Olivia Pope of your own life; this is your democracy. I can’t fix this.'"


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Last month, while celebrating Scandal's 100th episode, Washington gushed to ET about celebrating so many milestones in her personal life while starring on the show, which reportedly has only been renewed for one more season. Over the course of six seasons, she married Nnamdi Asomugha, gave birth to two children and turned 40.

"To go back and see like, 'Oh, that was at the beginning, or I got married right after that episode,' it is fun to go back and watch our lives unfold," Washington noted. "And to do that with everybody, like, 'That was right when [co-star] Katie [Lowes] bought her house.'"