For Cicely Tyson and Kerry Washington, Roles of a Lifetime

Cicely Tyson and Kerry Washington, two very successful actresses, met up for brunch at a hotel in Upper East Side this previous week, ironically, no food was served because the workers did not want to “interrupt” “whatever [they] had going on”. They were right, what they had going on was an interview with Philip Galanes from The New York Times.

Tyson and Washington became close friends when Washington was asked to present Tyson with the Spingarn Medal by the N.A.A.C.P. Washington, like many other African-American children, grew up watching Cicely Tyson on television in movies such as Roots and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, so she was excited to share an interview with her.

Both Tyson and Washington are currently working, Tyson on stage as Mrs. Watts in The Trip to Bountiful by Horton Foote and Washington as Olivia Pope in the series Scandal. However, this is not the only thing the two actors have in common. Although the two grew up in different time periods under parents with different careers, both struggled with receiving acceptance of their decisions to pursue acting as a career from their parents. Washington’s parents were educators who, of course, wanted her to pursue something that would provide her economic security and Tyson’s parents (who were very religious) felt the same. Cicely Tyson’s mother even kicked her out of the house when she began acting, and they did not communicate for two years.

They say the odds of becoming a successful actor are the same as getting struck by lightning while simultaneously winning the lottery, so I’m sure at some point every actor’s parents have been concerned with their child going in to a field that does not promise success, but after they see them walk on stage for the first time, as Tyson’s mother did, they can’t help but say “Oh my, God!” Although it is a hard industry to make it “big” in, if you love it, you have the economic freedom to pursue it! Imagine if Meryl Streep, or Johnny Depp would have said “Oh what are the odds of me becoming a successful actor?”

Many actors become discouraged because they are constantly hearing things such as “Have fun waiting tables” or “That’s not realistic”, often forgetting they have the freedom to pursue a career in whatever they want, no matter what it is, well as long as it isn’t illegal. If you can dream it, you can achieve it!