Actress Kerry Washington opens up about the time she found out that the father isn’t her biological father.
In a recent interview, the Scandal star revealed that the man she thought was her father wasn’t and found out on the series Finding Your Roots. She explained that she went to collect DNA samples from both of her parents, but they hesitated.
Henry Louis Gates, the host the series, had a conversation with Washington’s parents about the DNA. He later urged them to speak to her about their concerns and worries as soon as possible.
After finding out that her father wasn’t her biological father, Washington said it helped her understand the disconnect she felt with her father.
“I’ve always had this weird disconnect with my dad, but I thought that was my fault. I thought I wasn’t a kind enough person,” she said in her interview. “But the idea that I was not his never occurred to me. It was just, ‘Why can’t I be better to him? Why can’t we be closer? What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with us?’”
Kerry Washington also talked about her mother and her intentions to tell her the truth about her biological father and didn’t understand why her mother waited so long to tell her. “I was birthed into a lie. I was playing a supporting character in my parents’ story,” she said.
“I know that their intention was to protect me, to love me,to take care of me, to keep my world simple. I get many years of not telling me, but I’ve been an adult for over two decades.
She hasn’t been able to find her biological father but remains grateful that she knows the truth. “I’m still missing this piece of not knowing where half of my biology comes from. At least I don’t have any of the wrong pieces in the puzzle anymore.” This revelation comes before the release of her memoir Thicker Than Water.