'Scandal' star Kerry Washington didn't just drop into her role as a Hillary Clinton advocate. In her red carpet appearance outside the 2013 CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) where she announced Womenswear Designer of the Year, Washington talked about the Clinton, saying: "I've met Hillary. I think she's amazing. I think she's phenomenal and inspiring!"

Fast-forward to 2016, where Washington just cut a strong campaign ad for Clinton, joining Shonda Rhimes, Ellen Pompeo and Viola Davis, in a strong statement in their desire to say Madame President in 2017. The importance of electing women to political office is front and center in Kerry Washington's consciousness these days after the release of the trailer for her upcoming HBO film 'Confirmation' where she plays Anita Hill, who famously accused Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment before a Senate panel chaired by now Vice President Joe Biden. Thomas is played by Wendell Pierce, and the film also features Jeffrey Wright, Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Hudson.

'Confirmation' Trailer

For a feminist like myself, the Anita HIll story is one of the most difficult symbolic moments

Kerry Washington is styled by Samira Nasr as Elle magazine's April cover girl, lensed by Dan Martensen.

Washington is the perfect person to channel Anita Hill and support Hillary Clinton, telling Elle: "I'm a person who's always been politically active and passionate about people's rights." On the importance of the national events that inspired making 'Confirmaiton', the actor reflects:

This moment was so important because it created a language around women being able to protect themselves. The behavior that Anita Hill described was going on in a lot of offices throughout the country, and most people didn’t think they were doing anything wrong. But this created awareness around that and around the need for women’s voices to be heard in our public spaces, both testifying before Congress and sitting on the committee. It really was such a huge cultural shift.

I had the great experience of being at Hunter College in New York in October 2011, to hear Gloria Steinem introduce Anita Hill at a conference 'Sex, Power and Speaking Truth: Anita Hill 20 YearsLater. ' It was a transformative experience for me, leaving the press seating and moving to sit with the students. Of course, we all gave Anita a rousing ovation, but the applause for Gloria Steinem was muted in my section away from what Bernie Sanders would call the 'establishment' women and men of every skin color. The experience upset me quite a bit at the time, and this moment I see it in a 2016 political lens. ~ Anne