The 'Scandal' star corrects 'Today' co-host Craig Melvin when he refers to her as a 'mother of two' during her appearance on the show to promote her new Broadway play 'American Son'.
- October 30, 2018
AceShowbiz - Actress Kerry Washington confused fans on Monday, October 29 after referring to herself as a "mother of three" during a TV interview.
The "Scandal" star made an appearance on U.S. breakfast show "Today" to promote her new Broadway play "American Son", about a separated interracial pair attempting to locate their 18-year-old son, who goes missing following a traffic stop in Florida.
During the chat, Kerry was asked about how her own experience as a "mother of two" affected her performance onstage, but she was quick to correct co-host Craig Melvin, declaring, "I am a mother of three."
The remark left some viewers wondering if Kerry had secretly welcomed another child with her husband, former American footballer-turned-actor Nnamdi Asomugha, as the fiercely-private couple is only known to share four-year-old daughter Isabelle and two-year-old son Caleb.
She didn't expand on her comment on TV, but reports suggest the 41-year-old star referred to herself as such as she is also a stepmother to Nnamdi's kid from a previous relationship.
Elsewhere in the chat, Kerry admitted her role as Kendra Ellis-Connor in "American Son", in which she features opposite "The Good Wife" actor Steven Pasquale as her estranged husband, has been "one of the most challenging projects" in her career so far, and has served as an ongoing lesson in the "powerlessness of parenting" that she will face as her family grows older.
"It's interesting," she mused. "The play is teaching me so much every day, I feel like I'm still learning from her (Kendra), and one of the things that... every parent who comes to the play is faced with (is) the powerlessness of parenting.
"There was a time when you could control everything, kind of, about them (children) in the very, very, very beginning (of their lives), but parenting is a lot about letting go and how you do that with grace and ease and empower your kids to make the right choices. It is an adventure, and obviously doing that as a parent of an African-American kid has particular challenges."
The production, written by newcomer Christopher Demos-Brown and directed by Kenny Leon, is currently in previews and officially opens at the Booth Theatre on Sunday, November 04.
