The dynamic duo that is Kerry Washington and Raamla Mohamed are back again to bless the world with another drama series keeping viewers’ eyes glued to the screen waiting for what’s next in Hulu‘s Reasonable Doubt.
The Onyx Collective series explores Jax Stewart (Emayatzy Corinealdi), a fearless Los Angeles defense attorney working to balance family, friends, and a complicated personal life while juggling working in a system where odds are often stacked against people who look like her. As someone who challenges the structure of justice every chance she gets, Stewart shines in all of her Black girl glory, which may be possible being that Black women are at the core of telling this story both on and off-screen.
"Part of the excitement of making the show is when you talk about it," Washington told Shadow and Act in a recent interview with Mohamed.
“You’re [asked], ‘What’s the show about?’ A Black woman. ‘Oh, that’s cool. Who wrote it?’ A Black woman. ‘OK, well who directed it?’ A Black woman,” she chimed. “‘Really? Who did the costumes?’ A Black woman. It’s inspired by a Black woman. It’s just so much heart and soul and passion from a Black woman’s creative power. It’s just so many Black women coming together in community in sisterhood to create the show together.”
A part of that sisterhood consists of both Washington and Mohamed whose friendship began back during the Scandal days when Washington made history through her performance as the first Black woman to headline a network drama in 40 years through her role as Olivia Pope.
"On 'Scandal' we kind of grew up together on the show," Mohamed explained.
“It was the first writing credit that I had had and the first time Kerry was in a lead role of playing number one on a show so I feel like we were on set a lot and so you know, we kind of started to develop a shorthand about the material,” she continued.
After their successful Scandal run, the pair collaborated together for Little Fires Everywhere where Washington served as the producer and played the role of Mia Warren.
“She tapped me and was like, ‘Hey, I’m doing the show Little Fires Everywhere,’ and I was like, ‘Oh cool, congrats.’ And then she was like, ‘No, I’m telling you because I want you to be on the show.'”
"I feel like creatively, we're on the same page a lot of times no matter what the project is," said Mohamed.
“We’re both excited about the same things. When Kerry became a director on this pilot, it was nice to see her take this leadership role to another level and watch her get these amazing performances from actors,” she continued. “For me, it’s a friendship, but when you find people that you like working with, you kind of just keep working with them as much as you can.”
Washington also gushed about the friendship between the two ahead of the show’s premiere.
"We've built a whole toolbox together of how to communicate and how to create together," said Washington.
“I think we’re lucky that we have this wisdom and friendship and kind of creative intimacy that we’ve built, that we’ve earned with each other through the years,” she concluded.
Reasonable Doubt is now available for streaming on Hulu.
