Kerry Washington Shares Advice for Getting Over a Breakup

The ‘Mother and Child’ star dishes about dealing with heartache and the only celebrity who’s made her nervous

Watch the video at iVillage

We had an opportunity to speak with director Rodrigo García and members of his talented cast including, Annette Bening, Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson about the new film, it’s terrific cast, the adoption process in this country and what it means to be a parent.

From MovieWeb

The secret to Kerry Washington’s cozy camaraderie with her mom, Valerie?

“I hired this really beautiful woman to pretend to be my mother. She’s actually an actress,” Washington cracks.

Her mom retorts that her daughter “was coached to say all these really nice things.”

In reality, the two have a warm, supportive and bantering dynamic. They walk into Alice’s Tea Cup holding hands before settling in for afternoon libations.

Washington is appearing in the Broadway play Race while promoting her drama Mother and Child, in theaters. It’s an intimate look at three maternal relationships; Washington plays Lucy, a perfectionist who is eager to adopt because she’s unable to conceive. Her movie mom is more critical than supportive. Washington’s real-life mother, Valerie, a retired education professor and schoolteacher, inspired her performance, but in an unexpected way.

“Their relationship is really different from ours. There’s a little more tension and pressure in their relationship,” says Kerry Washington, 33. “I did have to ask my mom questions, because she spent a couple of years trying to conceive me.”

What was Kerry like as a kid, growing up in the Bronx?

“She was never difficult. Challenging, yes. She had a mind and mouth of her own. Always eager to let you know what she thought,” says Valerie, 70. “When she was 7, she decided she wanted to fly by herself, to be on a plane by herself. She had a cousin in Boston, so we arranged for her to fly to Boston for the weekend.”

Adds Kerry: “It’s when I started talking that I became difficult.”

When Kerry first thought about becoming an actress while studying theater at George Washington University in D.C., her mom told her instead to be a lawyer for actors, urging her to find a career more stable than drama.

Today, she’s proud of her daughter and is “awestruck” when she’s at one of her premieres. She is on edge when she sees her daughter on screen in perilous situations.

“I was sitting next to my mother at the premiere of The Last King of Scotland, and she was hyperventilating. I’m like, ‘I’m right here! No one has chopped me up. I’m right here,’ ” Kerry says.

Mom says she’s “getting better” about being at ease on Kerry’s turf.

“It’s just wonderful to see how she has evolved in this world and how she can handle this world,” she says. “And yet she can be the kid who comes home for Thanksgiving dinner and fools around with her cousins.”

Retorts Kerry: “I’m faking it.”

Today, with Washington working in the same city as her parents, she spends more time with Mom. They vacation together in upstate New York, where they each own a house on a lake.

“That time at the lake, that is our sanctuary. All of the cousins, all of the cousins’ kids — everyone goes up. We hike and swim and watch movies. There’s no TV. There’s a DVD player. Everyone cooks together,” Kerry says.

Reveals Valerie, prompting laughter from her daughter: “When they hang out, they tread water. If you want a private chat with no one else around, go out and tread water.”

Adds Kerry: “Everyone in my family swims really well. The joke is that we’ll all swim way out into the lake and just sit there. We stay out there and tread water and chat.”

So does Valerie give her single daughter romantic advice?

Kerry sits up: “I’d love to hear this answer.”

Valerie remains relaxed: “I don’t think so.”

Kerry: “You don’t really tend to do that.”

Valerie: “Her dad’s favorite saying is, ‘As long as you like him, I’ll like him.’ ”

From USA Today

Actress Kerry Washington drops by “Good Day LA” to talk about her latest movie role in “Mother and Child” The movie tells the story of three women that share a common core: they have all been profoundly affected by adoption. In the film Kerry stars as Karen, a woman who along with her husband wants to desperately adopt a child.

A video clip of Kerry from “Mother and Child” has been released – you can watch it below!