Watch Kerry Washington Perform As Lionel Richie In Award-Worthy Halloween Costume

Well, it looks like Kerry Washington just won Halloween, with her uncanny impersonation of Lionel Richie winning the seal of approval from the funk and soul legend’s own daughter Nicole Richie. Posing on a revamped cover of Lionel’s self-titled 1982 debut album, Washington told her Instagram followers: “Ready to embarrass my kids.” The actor, complete with a stick-on moustache, then performed a lip-synched rendition of the singer’s hit “You Are.” And she managed to completely nail Lionel’s shoulder-shimmying mannerisms in the process.

The impression was an immediate hit with fellow actors Octavia Spencer, America Ferrera and Leslie Odom, Jr. “I am dead,” Lionel’s eldest daughter Nicole wrote whilst sharing the video on her own Instagram story. Washington is best known for her hit roles in Scandal and Little Fires Everywhere, and also featured in the live-action Fantastic Four films and Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. The actor chooses to keep her personal life private, and rarely talks about her three children on social media — apart from when she’s trying to make them cringe with her throwback costumes, of course.

“I have moments where I take pictures or videos of one of my three amazing kids and I want to post it online and I tend to just send it to my parents and shrink instead,” she told TODAY in 2019, adding that she has a private Instagram for close friends, instead. “I’m like ‘My kids are so cute and I don’t want to post about them, so look at how cute they are.’”

Her brilliant impression of the singer is a stand-out moment from a busy weekend of top-notch celebrity Halloween costumes, with honourable mentions going to Lizzo’s Marge Simpson moment, Kim Kardashian’s Marvel tribute, and Janelle Monae’s The Fifth Element cosplay.