Olivia Washington Is On the Fast Track
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“Reading [the script], you can easily forget that most of my scenes are with a 13-foot man,” says Olivia Washington. “And not even a 13-foot man, but a puppet version.”
Washington is describing the magic of Boots Riley’s new Amazon series “I’m a Virgo.” The surreal show follows Cootie, an exceptionally tall young man whose parents have kept him hidden away from society until he emerges from behind (and above) a fenced-in yard and discovers the world beyond his own home. Washington stars as Flora, a woman who moves through the world at a super-fast speed. She puts her unique skill to work as a cook at a burger shop.
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Flora is also Cootie’s love interest, although Washington thinks that title is a little reductive for the character that Riley has sketched out.
“So many times — and no shade — but so many times female characters playing love interests are just part of the story for purposes of pushing the protagonist forward,” says Washington. “However, Boots made this person [Flora] the engine to her own story, and they both are finding explorations of themselves with each other,” she adds. “I always say that they saw their alien in the other.”
She shares many of her scenes with series lead Jharrel Jerome, but mostly filmed solo opposite a large puppet stand-in due to the use of forced perspective to create the illusion of the large-size differential. “There’s a half scale doll of me, and then there’s a couple 13-feet doll versions of Jharrel,” she says. “We were technically never together. I was always with his doll, or he was with my doll. So that required a lot of trust on both of our ends.”
“I Am a Virgo” which garnered strong reviews out of its debut at SXSW, is the actress’ first major on-screen role.
Several weeks before the show’s release, Washington is at the Gansevoort Hotel’s rooftop, taking in the downtown Manhattan view. The young actress has lived in New York since graduating from NYU’s Tisch School five years ago, but it was her first time seeing the city from that distinct Meatpacking District perspective.
After posing for photos at the rooftop venue, Washington traded her assortment of jewelry, chaps and white button-down (the work of stylist Altorrin McIntyre) for her own T-shirt, featuring an image from the 1995 classic “Waiting to Exhale.” “Great film,” she notes, settling into one of the chevron chairs.
“For so long, I wanted to be a part of these really amazing, interesting, intricate, specifically unique worlds, and Boots creates those,” says Washington of her attraction to the project. Her interpretation of the character ended up jiving with Riley’s vision. “The thing that Boots wanted from me as a character was something that so many people told me never to do, in terms of my acting style, or a choice that I would make,” she adds. “But he was like, no, do that, and do it a bit more. He really drew out everyone’s special gift. And, of course, the show’s about being special.”
Riley has described each character in the story as being reflective of parts of himself, and Washington similarly related to the universality of her character’s experience — despite her “The Flash”-esque superpower.
“I loved how Flora saw the world differently because some people — most people — can relate to seeing the world differently, and that’s not a problem at all. Other people might see it as a problem, but other people see it as a gift,” says Washington. “I love how confident Flora is. She’s like — I don’t care, this is who I am.”
Washington grew up surrounded by the arts — her parents are actors Denzel and Pauletta Washington — and she’s appeared in several films led by her father, including “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and “The Little Things.” But she credits her mother, who enrolled her in dance classes when she was young, for her performing arts trajectory.
“So the wild thing is, I was very shy,” says Washington, who grew up taking classes with industry figures like Eartha Robinson and Vernee Watson-Johnson, all women of color. “They really just pushed that door open, because they saw something [in me],” she adds. “It was from that point that being an artist was really a part of my identity.”
Shortly after graduating from NYU, she landed a role in the 2019 Shakespeare in the Park production of “Much Ado About Nothing.” “That was a pivotal moment for me, because I remember watching plays at the Delacorte and being like, ‘I want to be there.’ And then a few years ago being in that space with Kenny Leon and Danielle Brooks — it was such a spectacular experience.”
As for what’s next, the actress notes that her focus the last few months has been on promoting “I Am a Virgo” and waiting for its release. Washington also costars with David Oyelowo in “Birth of the Nation” director Nate Parker’s upcoming film “Solitary,” currently in post production.
“Patience in this process has been a good lesson for me to learn,” she says. “Every opportunity has expanded my growth as an artist, and so I kind of sit back and take it in. This is all new for me, and I am looking and I’m open and in the present. Every day is something new.”
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