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Kerry Washington is paying tribute to a role that “changed her life” two decades ago.
Save the Last Dance celebrated its 20th anniversary on Tuesday, which led to Washington commemorating the special occasion by sharing a behind-the-scenes photo with some of her pals from the flick.
“OH EM GEE!!!!! Save the Last Dance turns 20 years old today 😱😱😱😱😱!” the actress wrote on Instagram underneath a throwback picture with some other cast members. “Playing Chenille changed my life. I read that script and I felt like I KNEW her. At the time, I also knew the narrative that was being served in culture about who Black teen moms are. And I knew that if done right, this was an opportunity to transform some stereotyped thinking and make this young woman REAL. And human. And deserving of love and attention.”
She continued, writing, “I loooooved being a part of this film This cast. This crew. So many “slammin” memories! 😍😜”
Kerry Washington starred in the 2001 hit film alongside Julia Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Bianca Lawson.
Thomas, who played the role of Stiles’ love interest in the film, also took to Instagram to celebrate the occasion, touching on how important this film was at the time and admitting he didn’t know the reaction would be so great.
“Save The Last Dance premiered 20 years ago and we shocked the world, including myself. Never imagined the film would be as beloved as it is,” he said under a black and white photo of himself and his costar, Julia Styles.
He went on to thank some of his colleagues individually, writing, “Thank you @missjuliastiles for being an incredible partner...to @fatima_noir & @rtbrothas & @punchcity1 for pushing me..to my castmates @kerrywashington, @fredro_starr, #VinceGreen, what fun...my man #JeffRoda✊🏿 Very proud today. We did good...#SaveTheLastDance”
Kerry Washington also came around to Sean’s post about the film, writing, “So many memories 😍😍😍😍”
She also took the love over to Twitter, where she retweeted a few fans who were discussing the impact of the film.
“2 worlds,” she wrote in response to one of the most poignant scenes from the movie. “We been telling y’all for a loooooooong time. 2 different worlds.”
She went on to laugh at another tweet, which poked fun at the way Kerry pronounced, “Derek” in the film.
Save the Last Dance was released on January 12, 2001, debuting at number 1 at the box office during its opening weekend.