‘Shadow Force’ Star Kerry Washington Explains Why the Action Movie Is Perfect for Mother’s Day

Just in time for Mommy Appreciation Day, Kerry Washington has just the movie for you. It has romance, it has family values… and it even has guns blazing. No, not figuratively. Fresh off her leading turn in Tyler Perry’s The Six Triple Eight for Netflix, the Emmy-winning actress is back in action for another film where she means business. This time around, however, it’s a little more fun, despite the hard R-rated violence and tense drama surrounding her embattled character’s perpetual drive to protect her son.

From Lionsgate, Shadow Force sees Washington starring opposite the reliably appealing Omar Sy (Lupin). They play a pair of elite international assassins on the run from their former employer who has placed a $25 million bounty on their heads for ditching their organization to start a family. What a nerve. MovieWeb recently caught up with Washington to learn more about her exciting new action flick and why it was fitting to align the release date of Shadow Force with Mother’s Day.

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“You hear parents say, like, ‘Oh, I would kill for my child.’ But before you become a parent, you don’t really understand what that is like, that deep maternal, paternal instinct to do whatever it takes to protect your kids,” Washington told MovieWeb. “So it was fun to imagine, like, ‘What if I was a highly trained assassin who actually could kill for my child? What would that look like?'”

Washington continued, “One of the things that I love about the film, too, is — it’s not just about a badass mom. But I love that it’s about a badass mom because it’s coming out Mother’s Day weekend and all of that. But also, the dad is doing the primary parenting in the beginning of the film. I think it’s such a powerful image to see a loving dad — a dad who’s, like, fierce and strong and manly and incredible, but also, like, vulnerable and just a wonderful father. I know so many dads like that, including my husband… So it’s nice to see that image of parenting, too.”

Family Chemistry Through “Fight Training”

Kerry Washington’s work husband in her latest gig is Omar Sy, and the pair look like they’re having a ball together throughout Shadow Force — particularly when Washington’s character Kyrah makes her hubby look bad when it comes to precision shooting with firearms. Washington opened up to us about how she prepared for the action-packed role:

“We trained for months. It was really fun. And actually, Omar and I started fight training and the fight choreography way before we started rehearsals for the film. So the fight training became this really good way for us to get to know one another and kind of learn each other’s flow, and how to communicate and how to trust each other, which I think you really see in the film. A lot of our chemistry was built during our fight training.”

Directed by Joe Carnahan and co-written by Carnahan and Leon Chills, Shadow Force stars Mark Strong, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Cliff “Method Man” Smith alongside Kerry Washington and Omar Sy, and ​​will be released in theaters on Friday.