“Shadow Force” marks Kerry Washington’s action debut

Kerry Washington had a secret weapon as she prepared for her first leading action role in "Shadow Force": her husband Nnamdi Asomugha. The former NFL star helped Washington get into fighting shape for the movie, which she also produced and co-stars Omar Sy.

"My husband's always really great because he's a former professional athlete. Like he always has really good tips on just caring for myself and reminding me to like stay hydrated and get enough rest that that stuff really matters. So I'm really grateful that he understands sort of the athlete's mentality and encourages me, even just understanding the hours that I was training, between the weight training and the weapons training and the fight choreography," Washington said. "And it was a huge commitment. It's still, you know, comes nowhere close to what it would be like when he would go to training camp. So he gets it and I'm really grateful for that."

Washington's film comes out weeks after the release of Viola Davis' "G20" - another action film with a Black woman in the lead role, an rarity in movies. "Yeah, Viola (Davis) and I do stay in touch. I emailed her to congratulate her on the success of her film. And she's so incredible and badass in it," Washington said. "And I also, I was thinking about it this morning when Ben Affleck called me to do 'Animals' with him, I actually called Viola or emailed Viola and was like, what was your experience like working with him? Was it great? Because I wanted a little inside scoop and she was like. Had nothing but the most glowing things to say about him and working with him, which was really exciting." "Shadow Force" hits theaters May 9.