When you think of Kerry Washington, if the first thing you think of isn’t “married mother of three,” well, that is by design.
As InStyle’s latest cover star, the 48-year-old actress opened up about keeping her life with her husband, the 44-year-old actor and former NFL player Nnamdi Asomugha — whom she shares two children, her daughter Isabelle, 11, and son Caleb, 8, and a teenage stepdaughter — out of the public eye.
While admitting “it was very hard” initially to keep her children private, which continues to be a challenge as they grow and reach new milestones worth sharing, she explained why she’s remained firm in not posting them.
“Our kids get to be who they are, not who the world has decided they are,” the “Scandal” alum told the outlet.
She added, “Which is really actually similar to my husband and me. We live our lives and we are in the public eye, but we are still fairly private.”
After 11 years of marriage, the “Six Triple Eight” star recalled a time she was finally moved to share a picture of herself and Asomugha online.
“Almost two years ago, we were at a couture show in Italy, and the house crew took a picture of us,” she said. “I said to him, ‘This picture is so beautiful. I want to post this picture.’ And he was like, ‘Really?’ We had been married 10 years and never posted a picture of ourselves together.’”
“We are both the kind of actors who are often trying to tell as much truth as possible behind the mask of the character,” she continued. “I feel like we are more protective of our real truth. That’s not for public consumption.”
Earlier this year, during an appearance on “The Breakfast Club” to promote her recent film “Shadow Force,” the actress opened up about her marriage and how much she values their partnership.
“I love parenting with my husband, you know, I love our marriage, and I love how we are a team with these kids, and both are really important,” she said at the time.
While talking with InStyle, Washington shared that she’s in a “season” of life where her main priority is being as present as possible in her children’s lives.
“I want to be ambitious for things other than professional success,” she explained. “Ambitious for my kids, ambitious for my marriage, ambitious for life. Work is a big part of my life — I’m not retiring, I’m not walking away — but I’m ambitious about living a full life.”
