Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope in Scandal

In the US, the show’s success has been partly down to the cast live tweeting. Was this instigated by you?

I wouldn’t say the live tweets were my idea but I thought it would be really fun if all the cast were on Twitter. I didn’t want to be the bossy one so I may have emailed Shonda [Rhimes, the show’s creator] and said, “You should ask everyone to be on Twitter.” So she did. We all tweet about the show not because someone pays us to but because we’re passionate about it.

Would you have previously been reluctant about Twitter?

[Laughs] Oh yeah.

Has your mind been changed? You’ve currently got 1.68 million followers.

Yes. There is real power in social media. The world has become a global community and that’s exciting. [But] I’m a very, very private person so I was nervous about it. I didn’t know how to interact in this way without feeling like I was violating a sense of having a personal life outside and separate from work. But I work with a social media manager and I’m always working on that balance of being in conversation with the community and digital landscape but also having a private life.

You were asked to give a TED talk but declined, and since then have admitted you regret that. What have you learnt from that experience?

Taking risks is important. Sometimes as women we don’t do that out of fear of failure or fear of how it will be perceived. We are representing all women when we make a choice and I think risktaking – calculated, intelligent risk-taking – is really important.

Can you pinpoint a moment when you took that risk?

I feel like I take that risk on the show all the time. Olivia is such a revered character – we want to see her as all-powerful and all-knowing and yet she’s enormously flawed. Taking a hero and revealing her dark side – her flaws and humanity – is an exciting creative risk for me.

It’s interesting to hear that, given that TV has been dominated recently by flawed but celebrated male leads, like True Detective for example.

Yeah, I think because we feel underrepresented in different forms of media as women, or as people of colour, there’s a longing for those characters to be perfect [when they are the centre of the story]. To say, “No, I’m not supposed to be an upstanding citizen for all women or a role model for all people of colour. I’m going to be a human being; three-dimensional, messy and alive – both powerful and a little bit of a mess.” Now that’s exciting.

You’re involved in several organisations for change and were active in the Democratic National Convention to re-elect Barack Obama in 2012. How do you choose which causes to highlight?

I’ve gravitated a lot towards women’s issues because I’m a woman [laughs]. Also, I believe in equality for all members of our community and that lends itself to being very active around voting, voters’ rights and participating in a democracy. Our voices are heard in the US by showing up and voting. It’s important that people know they own that privilege. That’s how we keep our country ours.

How do you feel about Hillary Clinton potentially running for the presidency?

I’m excited; very excited. I want her to do whatever’s best for her, but she’d be a fantastic president. We’d be very blessed to have her as our commander-in-chief.

Oprah loves you, Lena Dunham twitter-stalks you, Claire Danes is a huge fan – do you sense a growing sisterliness in Hollywood right now?

[Laughs] It’s fun to hear that. There is a real circle of mutual respect. There are more opportunities for women and part of that is people like Lena and Oprah creating those opportunities and having a community that believes our successes can help rather than take away from each other. That’s the truth; the more successful you are, the more you’re able to inspire and create work for others. It’s great when we live in that belief system. It works.

You were asked to give a speech at your alma mater, George Washington University, this year. Were you as moved as you looked?

I was. Being the daughter of a professor, I have great respect for academic institutions and know how important education is.

'Don’t worry so much about being perfect': life according to Kerry Washington