KERRY WASHINGTON
Olivia Pope – Head of Pope and Associates
• About the show: Based on the real-life story of Judy Smith, an administration press aide during the Bush administration. She helped many high-profile clients, including Monica Lewinsky, Michael Vic and, most recently, former congressman Jesse Jackson jr.
• Her back-story: A former White House communications director, Pope left to start her own crisis management firm. She also hopes to start a new chapter of her life – given her affair with the president.
• Why is she so popular? Pope doesn’t show weakness. She is savvy; quick to take control of the situation and covers every facet to be sure that there are no comebacks. If you are in trouble and the cards are stacked against you, she is the one you want on your side.
• Her weakness: She can’t seem to let go of her feelings for Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III, who is the president of the US. He is a Republican and former governor of California from Santa Barbara.
• What she says about her role: “This is the first time I am playing someone who could theoretically destroy my life if I don’t get it right because she is so powerful (laughs). She added, in her interview with abclocal.go.com: “She is a tremendous resource and knows the inner machinery, and she is amazing and always available and I don’t know how she does it. She helps us understand details about a state dinner or what’s it like to get that call at 2am and identify a body.”
• What you didn’t know about Washington: While in the series, she is in love with a Republican, yet in real life Kerry Washington is in fact a staunch supporter of President Barack Obama and, as such, had reservations about taking on the role.
• What can we expect in season 2? She is linked to getting Quinn Perkins’s case thrown out of court, and in so doing, saved her from the death penalty. And her contentious relationship with the first lady continues – although they tend to tolerate each other.
• The Fixer is on M-Net (DStv Channel 101) on Mondays at 8.30pm.