Django Unchained may not be in cinemas for another five months or so (even longer for UK audiences) but that hasn't stopped Kerry Washington from answering a raft of questions about the project at this year's Comic-Con .
"Broomhilda is very unique because it’s a different kind of strength," says Washington of how her character compares to Tarantino's other female leads. "It’s more of an emotional, spiritual, psychological strength. For me, one of the things that I really loved about this character is that she exists in a time when, historically, black women were, out of necessity, independently strong."
"The breakdown of the black community, in order to maintain slavery, began with the breakdown of the black family," she continues. "Men and women were not legally allowed to get married because you couldn’t have that kind of love. It might get in the way of the economics of slavery."
However, according to Washington, it's the unfailing bond between her character and her husband Django (Jamie Foxx) that provides the film with its beating heart.
"I love that this film is about two people who, even though they exist in a time in our Constitution where they’re only 3/5 of a human being, they so believe in their own humanity and so believe in the love that they share and their illegal marriage, that they risk life to find each other," she says. "The fact that he travels across the country and goes into the depths of hell to save this woman, in this time period, was so triumphant."
A western romance that explores America's relationship with slavery… sounds like QT is pushing those boundaries again! Django Unchained opens in the UK on 18 January 2013.
