UnPrisoned: Delroy Lindo Was Kerry Washington’s ONLY Choice To Play Her Dad

Kerry Washington finally got a chance to work with her all time favorite actor — Delroy Lindo — in her new series UnPrisoned.

The 46-year-old actress said he was the only choice to play her TV dad in the new Hulu dramedy about a single mom whose life is turned right-side-up when her dad gets out of prison and moves in with her and her teenage son.

Inspired by author Tracy McMillan’s real life, UnPrisoned is a half-hour comedy about a messy but perfectionist relationship therapist who come faces to face with her daddy issues.

“For me, there was some unprecedented freedom in playing a character who was so free and messy, and she has a really different energy than mine,” said Kerry.

Washington plays Paige Alexander, while Lindo plays Edwin Alexander, Paige’s father, who has recently been released from prison after serving 20+ years.

Lindo said he was attracted to the role because it was a different narrative around the affects of mass-incarceration than he’s seen before.

“Kerry and Tracy made it clear to me that they wanted to illuminate a situation. They wanted to dispel some prejudices that people have around formally incarcerated people,” he said. “And they made it clear to me that they wanted to turn that on its head. Different this time. This whole thing is different.”

The 8-episode scripted series is produced by ABC Signature and will be streamed exclusively on Hulu on March 10th.