Kerry Washington has been a force to be reckoned with since she first hit the scene back in 1994. Her gradual rise as a commercial actress from the Bronx to Emmy award-winning leading lady has always been an inspiring journey for fans to watch. Celebrate the star’s birthday today (Jan. 31) with a gallery of her gorgeous photos inside.

The Scandal star lives a pretty low-key life with her hubby and two kids these days. But before becoming a mom, Ms. Kerry was a young actress in these California and NYC streets serving looks, smarts and sass.

She’s always down to stand for a cause that she believe in. Like the 2018 Times Up movement that swept Hollywood.

“[Women] shouldn’t have to give up our seat at the table because of bad behavior that wasn’t ours.”

And she’s always standing for the advancement of Black women:

“We must see each other, all of us and we must see ourselves, all of us and we have to continue to be bold and break new ground until this is how it is, until we are no longer ‘firsts’ and ‘exceptions’ and ‘rare’ and ‘unique.”

Mind you, she does all of this while looking flawless. Honestly, there’s not one bad photo of Kerry on the Internet.

Today, Washington shared her perspective on being an Aquarian. She shared that she’s a “textbook Aquarian,” saying that they are typically humanitarian, serving the world. She says they are very loving and compassionate while being flaky and hard to nail down. Overall, she agrees that Aquarians are very free-spirited.

Check out the post shared on W Magazine below:

The mom of two turns 47 years old today. In honor of the big milestone, check out our gallery of Kerry Washington in all her badiness throughout the years.

Happy Birthday, Kerry!