Kerry Washington won't let fame stop her from "participating" in democracy

Kerry said: "I don't participate because I'm a person in the public eye; I do it because I'm an American. I'm never going to stop participating in my democracy because of what I do for a living."

The actress plays the conservative Mrs. Green in the new Netflix musical comedy 'The Prom', in which she opposes a lesbian couple going to a high school prom.

Kerry admitted that she relished the experience of being on the opposite end of the argument.

She explained: "I've always been a really active person in the civic engagement, social justice space, so it was fun to try to wrap my head around the resistance to that."

The Hollywood star also feels that she is unable to "divorce" her political ideology from the choices she makes as an actress.

She told the Guardian newspaper: "I've never been able to divorce political ideology from the choices I make as an actor, because black women in particular have been so marginalised.

"Even if I'm just doing my job as an actor, by bringing full, three-dimensional, human realisation to a character, when you do that as a black woman, it's a political act."

Kerry has always been very clear-minded about how she approaches her career and the roles she chooses to accept.

She explained: "From the beginning of my career, I have said to my agents and manager: 'I'd rather work three more shifts at a restaurant than take on a role that I think is gonna be bad for women or bad for black people.'"