© Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection
Kerry Washington explains in her new memoir, “Thicker Than Water,” that she adamantly refused to play “the white girl’s best friend” after starring in “Against the Ropes,” the 2004 boxing drama that starred Meg Ryan and Omar Epps. The film starred Ryan as Jackie Callen, the first woman to achieve success as a boxing manager. Washington played Jackie’s best friend, a receptionist named Rene.
“I played in it [Meg Ryan’s] “Coworker and best friend — this has become new territory for me, a white girl’s best friend,” Washington wrote (trans Entertainment Weekly).
As Washington recalls, Against the Ropes was her third consecutive project in which she played the lead’s white best friend. First came 2001’s “Save the Last Dance,” in which he was Julia Stiles’ best friend, then she filmed the canceled pilot for the 2004 Fox drama “Wonderfalls,” where she was the best friend of lead character Carolyn Dhavernas. Tracie Thoms eventually took over the role. Washington was certain that “Against the Ropes” would be his last, mainly because she was such a huge fan of Meg Ryan that she had reached her personal pinnacle as “the white girl’s best friend.”
“When Harry Met Sally is, to this day, one of my top three movies of all time, so once I played Meg Ryan’s best friend, playing that role against everyone else was a bit of a side step,” Washington writes. He added: “It’s not that I wanted to be the star of the movie; I wanted my characters to be in a story of their own. “I didn’t want to be a partner in a white woman’s journey.”
Washington’s career continued with supporting roles, but roles that she felt were far more fleshed out than simply providing support to her white star. These roles included playing Della Bea Robinson opposite Jamie Foxx in “Ray” and Kay Amin opposite Forest Whitaker in “The Last King of Scotland.” Both men went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Washington’s memoir “Thicker Than Water” is now available for purchase.
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