Kerry Washington says recovery means treating her body 'with more love'

Kerry Washington is getting candid about the darkest days of her eating disorder, and why recovery is something she works at every single day.

On screen, Kerry Washington has epitomized the type of woman who is always in control. Best known for her role as Olivia Pope on ABC’s “Scandal,” she put out political fires as an icy crisis management expert.

But offscreen, the most personal battles she’s faced are the ones where that control has felt elusive. The 49-year-old star is getting real about the ups and downs of recovery ahead of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. 

“When we think about mental health and behavioral changes there, I've always thought it's so complicated, because my substance is not something that I can put down,” Washington says. “I have to take this tiger out of the cage and pet it three times a day.”

Speaking during a Feb. 19 luncheon with virtual eating disorder treatment startup Equip Health, of which Washington is an advisor and investor, she is the picture of confidence. But the Emmy-nominated actress hasn’t always felt that way, and it’s been a long journey to feel at peace with her body. 

She says she wrestles with figuring out “how to live in some sort of harmony” with her deepest struggle.