Why Kerry Washington’s Mom Let Her Swear Quoting ‘Whoopi Monologues’ (Exclusive)

Kerry Washington and director Whitney White spoke to “Extra” about Lincoln Center Theater’s “The Whoopi Monologues,” which is a reimagining of Whoopi Goldberg’s groundbreaking 1984 self-titled solo show.

Kerry recalled first seeing the show as a kid, saying, “I first saw the show at Home Box Office, HBO, and it totally blew my mind. It really transformed my idea of what was possible for an actor and what was possible to achieve in the theater in terms of having an impact on people’s hearts and minds. And I’ve always loved the work. I memorized the work as a young child, and I loved the idea of bringing it to new audiences.”

Kerry said that as a kid, her parents would even let her repeat the swear words in the show!

She shared, “Our show, ‘The Whoopi Monologues,’ opens with some profanity. We have a junkie character named Fontaine who’s beloved and Fontaine says, ‘Around the world in 80 mother effing days.’ And my parents let me quote the show walking around the house singing that song because my mom really understood that on the other side of those swear words was a real dive into humanity and into really being able to open your heart to somebody else’s reality and existence. And so that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Washington emphasized, “We’re inviting people into this seminal work that Whoopi wrote that allows you to step into the lives of people that you don’t know. People that you may ignore, walk past, assume that they don’t have a story that is as tremendous as it is. And we force you to sit in your seat and be in their world and love them.”

As for her own children, Kerry shared, “Well, my kids haven’t seen the show yet, but it’ll be interesting to see what lands for them and what they take away from it.”

Kerry noted, “I’m really proud of the material, and I do feel like, you know, to create a work that allows a child to walk away singing the material because it stays with them. Like, what that meant was that in my home, that junkie character became a hero. And it meant that in my neighborhood in the Bronx, I could see the people that were unhoused in my community as having more wisdom, more value than the world told me they had. Whoopi Goldberg gave me that gift of being able to see people in my own community in a different way.”

Kerry admitted she was nervous about taking the stage. "I mean, as a New York girl, I wanted to walk the boards before I wanted to be in anybody’s movie or TV show," she said. "The theater is such a sacred space for me. It’s where I started. It’s where I returned to. It’s what I love. And so to get to honor this material with this director and this cast, it’s just a dream come true. It really is. So it does come with nerves, but I try to remind myself that physiologically, anxiety and excitement are really the same activity in the body. You just have to call it something different, right? So I’m feeling inspired about what we’re creating and bringing to the world.”

Raving about Whitney, Kerry said, “Working with this director, she’s no joke. So, we’re getting to dive deep and make something really special together.”

Whitney chimed in, “I’m so grateful she’s been game for all of my little explorations.”

Whitney opened up about what showgoers can expect, saying, “I think you can expect to see a lot of love on that stage. A love of Black women, a love of excellent playwriting, which Whoopi has delivered in this.

“And also just, you know, I’m a theater nerd. So when you grow up learning about Shakespeare and ‘The Iliad’ and all these great classical work and Chekhov, what unites all that work is great characters, you know, and this is kind of a new American epic in its own right, this kind of little cornucopia of people in this little world that Whoopi Goldberg built. So audiences can expect to be immersed into a very, very special theatrical landscape when they come to see ‘The Whoopi Monologues.’”

As for preshow rituals, Whitney shared, “I think I just I always want to encourage my performers to just leave it all on the stage because if you just put it all out there, the good, the bad, wherever you’re at in your day in your life, then you’ll have a great show. But if you don’t leave it all out there and you keep it balled up, you can’t release. So I just try and encourage people, release, release, release.”  

Kerry added, "Whitney said earlier, the five of us, we're like the New Your Knicks of theater right now. So I’m sure we’ll find some group rituals and stuff we’ll do together to make sure that when we go out there, we’re able to pass the ball with as much championship heart as possible.”