Kerry Washington Covers Page Six

On the cover of this week’s Page Six Magazine, actress Kerry Washington opens up about her new job as a director, leaving a three-year engagement and the first time she met Barack Obama.

Kerry spent her 31st birthday in January watching a Clinton-Obama debate at LA’s Kodak Theater. She gets giddy recalling their backstage introduction, saying when the Illinois Senator said he recognized her, she remembered, “It was a great moment.”

Back in Tinseltown, Kerry is awaiting the September 19th release of her latest flick, Lakeview Terrace, where she stars opposite Patrick Wilson as a couple terrorized by police officer-neighbor Samuel L. Jackson. Having already helped former co-stars Jamie Foxx (Ray) and Forrest Whittaker (Last Kind of Scotland) land their own Academy Awards, Kerry jokes about her lucky charm status: “It’s just been my ploy to get more work in this town. I tell men, ‘If you hire me, you might get an Oscar!’”

The 31-year-old Bronx-bred actress is all about taking on a new craft. “When Spike Lee found out I was directing Common’s latest music video, he called me and said, ‘So, you’re transitioning?’ And I said, ‘No. I’m not leaving acting for directing. I’m just expanding!’”

Kerry doesn’t stop there. She is the current spokesmodel for L’Oreal and Movado watches and has testified before Congress on behalf of the National Endowment for the Arts. But being lauded for her looks still surprises her. “I have not always thought of myself as beautiful. Growing up, I never felt like the pretty one, which is good because I felt it was important to become the smart one. I wouldn’t say I was an ugly duckling but I never felt like I had an exceptional physical appearance that was going to make life any easier.”

Engaged for three years to actor David Moscow (most famous for playing Josh, the kid portrayed by an adult Tom Hanks in Big), Kerry walked away. “Weddings are like red carpets for normal people. I do so many gowns and events in my work. I have that. Coming out of an engagement, I don’t even try to guess what my life is going to look like in the future anymore. No one has to feel sorry for me. I'm not lonely. I have my dog.”

For more on Kerry Washington, check out this week’s issue of Page Six Magazine, free inside the Sunday edition of the New York Post and online on Monday at www.pagesixmag.com. For a preview of this week’s magazine, click on www.nypost.com/pagesixmag/upcoming.