Why Kerry Washington Wanted to Do The School for Good & Evil

Kerry Washington‘s character may be drawn to the light in The School for Good and Evil, but the actress herself is taking a little inspiration from her villainous side. 

In an exclusive interview with E! News, the Scandal star, who plays the light-hearted Professor Dovey, explained why she was drawn to the Netflix film in the first place—and it’s not because her character is all sunshine and roses. Instead, Washington said she was interested due to co-star Charlize Theron, who plays Dovey’s “evil” counterpart, Lady Lesso. 

“Part of my desire to do this film was to work with Charlize,” Washington said, “And to be able to be on stage together and really give each other freedom to play. The more saccharine, sweet I would get, the more annoyed she would be. The meaner she was, the sweeter I would be. We just really played off of each other. It was so inspiring.”