Django Unchained: An Interview with, “Broomhilda”, Kerry Washington
Kerry Washington, the female lead in Tarantino’s Django Unchained is one of the smartest, most del spoken actresses I’ve ever met. This won’t come as as surprise, the Scandal star is a frequent guest on Bill Maher’s show, advocating for human rights and in particular, Obama’s presidency and the social changes that overdue in the United States. Washington is also extremely beautiful and talented. Some women can have it all, it seems. Sitting with Washington in her trailer on the Louisiana Django filmset, just after sundown on a hot evening in June, we talk Django and working with Tarantino.
LIANNE: First of all, I want to say – it’s awesome watching you ride in on a horse as Broomhilda. How did you come to be involved in the film and how did you get the role?
WASHINGTON: I first heard about the film through one of the producers, but I got the script from my agent a few months later. Shortly after that, I flew to New York and met with Harvey Weinstein, Reginald Hudlin and Quentin. I was the first person they had met with at this point, but it wasn’t a done deal. I’m not sure if Quentin knew what he was looking for, I got the impression he might have wanted a more unknown actress. It wasn’t like I got the role during that lunch at all. Quentin had several others auditions after that, and then I eventually read for him. Then, he called me for the role. I was never sure that I had landed it until he called me.
LIANNE: Tarantino is famous for the dialogue in his films, what about the script and the character of Broomhilda Von Shaft appealed to you personally?
WASHINGTON: It appealed to the romantic in me, to be honest, because Django is on a quest to find me and to reunite with me. And you know, what I’m about to say might make Black women want to pull their hair out – or mine – but even from a feminist perspective, it was such a rare opportunity to be the princess and be rescued. Black women in America have not been able to afford the fantasy of being rescued by our husbands in a tower, because we come out of this legacy as women not able to even really have husbands. Most female slaves in America didn’t have husbands, they couldn’t, and if they did, their husbands and children could be shipped down the river at any moment. That’s where the saying comes from, to be “shipped down the river” so the idea that this love between these two people which isn’t even really legally sanctioned, that they would fight so deeply for their marriage. It’s just such a revolutionary idea, and I felt that it really honored the Black woman in a way that I’ve never seen before. There were things about the script that really disturbed me as well. To be honest, I’m not a person who thrives on a violent aesthetic. I don’t gravitate toward films that have a lot of gore or sex, or anything exploitive. Yet I’m a huge fan of Tarantino’s, which is part of why this film is extraordinary for me.
LIANNE: He does have a unique way of looking at the world, and that is clear in all of his films.
WASHINGTON: Absolutely. He’s such a visionary with the way that he sees things. He’s so specific and unique, but at the same time he also honors the legacy of filmmaking of the past in a really interesting way. The script is disturbing, but for better or for worst, I’ve gravitated toward this because it does scare me a little bit, and as an artist, I want to grow and expand and go into territories that are intimidating. That is where my journey should lead me. There are things about this history of slavery that scare me, too. I’d never seen anyone go so deep into the ugliness of this part of American history and yet maintain this line of love, hope, commitment and humanity. I was really intrigued by Tarantino’s script.
LIANNE: The relationship between you and Django is really interesting, too. It’s swooping and grand, but it’s also very real, the dialogue that takes place between them near the end – the relationship feels like fantasy, but it has a genuine, real quality to it.
WASHINGTON: Yea, but we literally do ride off into the sunset afterward! Or, I should say, the sun that has already set. There are these elements that are classic fairy tale princess in a tower elements in this film, which is part of why I love it so much. I’d never seen African Americans in that context before. I was also intrigued about playing a woman that lived during this time, a Black woman who speaks German!
LIANNE: What are your hopes in terms of how the film will appeal to audiences – nationally and internationally?
WASHINGTON: I imagine that there will be a huge range of reactions to the film. People will have opinions on completely opposite sides of the spectrum. I can see people saying that it’s their all-time favorite, his best movie ever, and I can see other people saying that they walked out. We’ll see!
LIANNE: Has there been a time working on the film that has been really special for you, the ultimate experience as an actress?
WASHINGTON: The fact that we are able to shoot on this sacred land has been really tremendous. For me, the day that we shot the whipping stuff and Jamie was begging, and we were getting slogged. The first time that I heard the whip in that alley of slave shacks, it was so clear to me that that is a sound that has echoed in that alley of trees and shacks for centuries. I just felt very, it all felt very poignant because it felt like we were… you know the history of his country, and the history that took place on this land is so dark that it is hard to even imagine, and that is our job as actors in this film, we need to explore that and go to those dark realms. To do that, in a place where is actually happened added another layer of poignancy and the importance of telling this story, of exposing the story in this way. The importance of that really resonated for me on that day. I don’t think that the answer of moving through race issues is to reflect on the past all the time, but I don’t think we move forward until we deal with the past, and this film isn’t a documentary, but it’s amazing to me because Tarantino is so fearless. He’s not intimidated by violence or evil or the darker places in life. I feel like that is one of the reasons why him directing this film is so special. So often when we deal with this time period, we don’t want to really deal with the evil and the violence. It’s too painful, because it was just 150 years ago. For some, it’s too close to home – but it’s time. And Quentin isn’t afraid of that, so he can tell this story in this way.
LIANNE: But as you said, the film is about love, as well.
WASHINGTON: Exactly! The film is dark, and there is evil and that doesn’t scare Quentin, and yet he is connected enough to his own core sense of human goodness, that that is the central theme of the film, this quest for love. That is the driving force. It’s a really amazing juxtaposition!
LIANNE: How has working with Tarantino been different than working for other directors?
WASHINGTON: Quentin builds his set for play, whatever that may be. Sometimes between scenes, it’s been Bobby Brown’s “Prerogative” and Jamie is dancing on the balcony of Candie Land, and then other days, it’s been gospel all day on the sound system, all really taking in the space. Quentin is such an organic filmmaker that is very specific, but he rolls with the work as this living and breathing experience. He has changed the script several times as well, the film is so different from how it started out in the beginning, and Quentin has made several script changes because of how compassionate he is as a storyteller. The film has had an impact on him, and he’s seen certain moments in the film, and he’s though, “Oh, this is different now, my characters are living this out, and we need to change this down the line…” and so he does. He is really living with the material in such an honest way, and he’s just a lot of fun. He works very hard and he plays very hard!
Django Unchained is currently in theatres everywhere.
xox
Lianne Spiderbaby
