kerry-wshington

Kerry Washington is wasting no time preparing for the next season of Scandal, and what better way to do it than celebrating an Emmy Award nomination.

“I just feel more indebted to them than ever before,” the 35-year-old actress said this past Thursday as she prepared to meet with the show’s cast and crew to do a first script run through for the new season of “Scandal.” ”I’m really excited that I get to see them and thank them today, because there’s no way you can pull off playing a character like Olivia on a show that spans 22 episodes without having real gladiators in the trenches with you.”

Washington was nominated for lead actress in a drama for her riveting performance of high-powered political strategist and incurably sentimental romantic Olivia Pope.

She is among only five non-white acting nominees out of a total field of 96, and is the first African-American actress to compete in this category since Cicely Tyson was nominated in 1995.

If Washington receives the award when the Emmy Awards are presented in September, she will be the first African-American actress to ever do so.

Although she declined to address the history of the Emmys, she described the nomination as “wonderful.”

“I feel really excited and proud to live in a world where a show that embodies so much diversity on so many levels — because our show is so diverse with regard to race and ethnicity and gender and sexual orientation — that a show that really celebrates inclusivity is able to be such a success both in the U.S. and overseas,” she said. “That’s something that I’m really proud to be a part of, and I’m proud to be a citizen in a world where that’s possible.”

The nomination comes at an exciting time in Washington’s life considering she’s also a newlywed, marrying professional football player Nnamdi Asomugha just last month.

The opportunity to portray a role such as that of Olivia Pope, with her often messy personal life, is the kind of character many actresses only dream of playing.

“She is so inspirational but also really, really flawed,” Washington said. “There are qualities about her that you want to have, but there are also qualities that you just think, ‘Oh honey, if we were friends, I would send you to a really good shrink.’”