Here’s a bit of trivia you’re going to want to know to dazzle at cocktail parties: Kerry Washington and Gwyneth Paltrow actually attended high school together at the Spence School in New York City. So that’s already a juicy little nugget — but it gets better. Way better.
Turns out the two A-list celebs were also in an a cappella singing group together during their time on campus, according to the latest episode of Paltrow’s Goop podcast. Just take a moment to imagine what those group meetings were like. (We’ll wait.)
“This is so surreal… I was in a singing group called Triple Trio,” Paltrow recalled in the podcast, explaining the group was so named because it had nine members. “We were holding auditions because a bunch of us were graduating, and in walks Kerry Washington. The most beautiful — first of all, your face has not changed. No aging whatsoever — this beautiful eighth-grader comes in so confident. She opened her mouth and the most exquisite voice came out.”
(Pause to imagine Kerry Washington as the exquisite eighth grader she was. Now take a moment to reflect on whether you’ve ever heard “exquisite” and “eighth grader” used together in a sentence before.)
For her part, Washington also remembered Paltrow as “always cool.”
My Spence sister @gwynethpaltrow interviewed me today for the @goop podcast on what it means to be a WOMAN ON TOP 😍 – in business, in life & ALL THAT!!! I had such a blast ❤️❤️❤️. Thanks to all who texted me q’s! You’ll have to listen to to find out which one was asked 😊 pic.twitter.com/BBt4Q0DRju
— kerry washington (@kerrywashington) September 19, 2019
Despite their shared elegance and natural singing aptitude, Washington remembered her experience of high school was different than Paltrow’s was, for at least one specific reason: “It was an absolute culture shock. We were rich in the Bronx because we had like two cars and a dishwasher and a microwave. Then, I got to Spence and it was like helipads on people’s roofs in the Hamptons. I really didn’t know how to comprehend it.”
Washington explained that she was one of the few black students enrolled in the school, and felt isolated because of it — but that she did thoroughly enjoy her experience signing. These days, she told Paltrow, she does it only in the shower and to amuse her children.
She has two kids, Isabelle and Caleb, with husband Nnamdi Asomugha, as well as a tween stepdaughter.
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