From the second I mention Mama Lu to Pauletta Washington, the woman who brings her to life on the Hulu series Reasonable Doubt, she wants to know what I think of her. The answer is layered. Mama Lu clearly loves her daughter, played by Emayatzy Corinealdi. But her meddling ways and inability to acknowledge the role she played in her own child’s sexual abuse make her difficult to watch on occasion.
Reasonable Doubt, created by Raamla Mohamed and directed and executive produced by Kerry Washington, is a legal drama centered around Jax Stewart (Corinealdi) and the high-profile cases she takes on as a defense lawyer at an up-scale Los Angeles law firm. A mother of two who’s separated from her husband, Stewart’s personal life adds color to her narrative. That includes her relationship with her mother.
To Washington, 72, Mama Lu is “a mom who loves her daughter and wants the absolute best for her,” as she tells me. But Washington can admit that Mama Lu’s definition of best is often her best and not what Stewart might actually want. As a mother of four children in real life, the actress can relate. “As parents, we want to control and guide. You raise children to be independent, then they are independent and we have problems. We can’t stand it,” she admits.
The complexities that exist in Mama Lu and Jax’s relationship stem, at least partially, from that dichotomy. But mixed in with this portrayal is the tenderness from the matriarchs in Washington’s own family.
“The similarities between my mother and Mama Lu would be the strength, seeking for excellence and the nurturing part, definitely,” Washington says. To better understand the complicated part, Washington interviewed daughters who had been sexually violated and the mothers who were confronted with their stories.
“What has happened to [Mama Lu] and what she has allowed to happen are far from what I experienced personally but I do know other families that experienced it,” Washington says.
“We say, ‘That would never happen to me. I would do this. I would do that.’ Nobody really knows what they’ll do when they’re in any given situation,” she says. “That I’ve learned in life in general. So it’s been very educational. I was surprised by the number of people who have been subjected to this type of behavior.”
Work that reflects the messy realities of the world is what’s most important to Washington.
“That’s what life is,” she says. “We, as artists, have said art imitates life. Slowly, reality has entered the case. In hospital shows, everybody doesn’t live. On police shows, sometimes the bad guys get away. Now, in this 21st century we have escalated even further to shocking values of life. As an actor, it’s great, especially if a character is against your personal character. You get to delve into that,” she explains. “I always thought being an actor was so much fun because you can do and get away with a lot of things that you wouldn’t do in your real life.”
To that point, many of Mama Lu’s actions are in stark contrast to who Washington is as a person. The mothering aspect, however, she says, came naturally. It didn’t hurt that her on-screen daughter gave Washington a taste of life as a grandmother.
“Emayatzy has the most adorable little girl that I have completely fallen in love with,” Washington admits. “I don’t have grandchildren. Her little girl is two. And I am just in love with her.”
The warm feelings extend to her castmate as well. “Emayatzy and I developed an on-screen relationship really quickly because she’s so easy to warm up to and to just be there for,” Washington says. “I think it was a natural chemistry, a good chemistry. In our talking in between scenes and trying to get to know each other to better play mother-daughter, we revealed a lot of our personal lives to each other. And I’ve just become a mama. I feel like her mother. It was a very easy task.”
The ease in working on Reasonable Doubt also has a lot to do with the show’s all-Black writer’s room. Every episode was directed by a Black director as well. With Black writers, Washington is able to focus more acutely on the work instead of lobbying for authentic Black expression.
“We know each other. We know our culture very well, down to what type of hair grease is on the stove,” Washington says. “We know that. That’s something that doesn’t have to be sold.”
While Reasonable Doubt has yet to be renewed for a second season, Washington has other projects in the works. Though she can’t say much about them, she’s looking forward to taking on the role of the bad guy.
“We’re looking into exploring this character–this lady who is not all of what she says she is,” Washington shares. “I’ve been mamas, I’ve been grandmas. I’ve been sisters. My characters have always been the one to cool out or console people so I think it would be interesting to be the one who causes the problems.”
