ATLANTA — Kerry Washington, known best for warring with words on ABC’s “Scandal,” has seen the likes of Lucy Liu, Halle Berry and Gal Gadot physically take down bad guys in film. So why not her?

“Shadow Force,” an action thriller hitting theaters this weekend with no connection to a comic book or bestselling novel, gave her that opportunity.

Washington relished her chance to strike hard with no mercy as rogue covert operative Kyrah Owens, who can throttle enemies in the vein of Jason Bourne or John Wick.

“There’s not a lot of CGI effects,” said Washington in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Atlanta last month to promote the film. “This is real people doing real stunts a majority of the time. I did most of my own stunts. My amazing stunt double taught me how to do them safely.”

But her character has serious issues. She married fellow Shadow Force member Issac (French actor Omar Sy) and had a son Ky (Jahleel Kamara).

This is a problem because fraternization is strictly verboten within Shadow Force. To save her family, she and Issac separate and Issac watches their son in hiding while she fends off other Shadow Force members seeking to kill them.

“I’m a wreck because I’m away from my kids for a week doing press for this movie,” Washington said. “Kyrah’s choice is unfathomable and is really a different kind of courage and sacrifice.”

Early in the film, Issac reveals himself by fending off bank robbers. Shadow Force creator Jack Cinder (a menacing Mark Strong) places a massive bounty on the couple’s heads and it’s game on.

Washington said the film reverses typical gender roles. Typically, the man fights off the baddies while the mom takes care of the child. But Issac in “Shadow Force” plays primary parent in a way that is sweet and loving.

“I was joking with a girlfriend that seeing a man being a great dad is the sexiest thing he can do,” Washington said. “At the same time, he’s able to be a badass in all those fight scenes.”

Having a young child on set for a movie like this is tricky, she acknowledged, noting how they had to shield him from the violence.

“It’s very similar to what our characters were doing,” Washington said, “like that scene where she puts him in the trunk of the car with headphones. We’re trying to create situations where he can hold on to his joy while we are killing people to save him.”

The fictional couple’s favorite singer is Lionel Richie. Their wedding song? Richie’s 1982 soaring love ballad “Truly.” Even her fictional son sings it during the film.

“Lionel is like the fourth member of this family,” Washington said. “He’s the soundtrack of our lives. Fortunately, he gave us the rights to use his music. He also happens to be working on a memoir called ‘Truly.’ I didn’t mind hearing that song over and over. It has this sweeping epic quality. And I always loved him. As a teenager, I had his poster on my wall. So it was all meant to be.”

Washington, having risen to the echelon of A-list actors, has been able to stay busy at a time when the film and TV business has slowed.

She is an executive producer on films like “Shadow Force” and the Hulu TV drama “Reasonable Doubt,” which is shot in metro Atlanta. (Washington was also in town to oversee that production.) She just completed a film with Ben Affleck and is in the upcoming Netflix whodunit “Knives Out 3.” And she is about to produce and star in Apple TV+ drama “Imperfect Women” with Elizabeth Moss.

Relatively speaking, “Shadow Force” is more escapist fare than award fodder, and Washington is OK with that.

“We want people to see this in theaters,” she said. “The soundtrack in surround sound is sick. When people walked out of screenings, they told me they didn’t expect to laugh so much. And they cried. It’s gratifying that it’s entering people’s hearts. That’s meaningful.”

How to watch

“Shadow Force,” in movie theaters May 9.

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