Sure steps on path to ‘Ray’

After attracting attention in such festival favorites as “Our Song” and “Lift,” Kerry Washington has made an impressively smooth transition to bigger-budget Hollywood fare such as “Save the Last Dance” and “The Human Stain.” Having appeared this year in Spike Lee’s “She Hate Me” as a woman with an unstoppable libido for sex and money, she’s now onscreen in her most high-profile role, as the long-suffering wife of the implacable Ray Charles in “Ray.”

In preparing for the role, Washington was able to visit Della Charles, who stood by the legendary musician through years of on-the-road infidelity and drug addiction.

“When I create a character, I do all these lists,” says Washington, 27. “ ‘If I was a flower, what flower would I be?’ or favorite color, favorite food or book, all to build the subconscious information that we mostly forget about. In this case I got to actually ask her. It was really neat.

“Some of them were easy,” she continues. “Favorite book? The Bible. My favorite answer was her favorite flower. She said, ‘I would be a rose because I’m very pleasant to be around, but if you interact with me in the wrong way it could be painful for you.’ I was like, ‘Oh, that’s good.’ ”

Washington will also be seen in the Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt film “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” a part she took largely to try doing some stunts. And though she hopes to be done with the “white girl’s best friend” roles, she’s also secretly proud of the absence of any conspicuously lowbrow titles on her resume.

As she explains, “I think part of what draws me to acting is that from a young age I’ve been aware of the different dynamics between people, of how socioeconomics affect behavior, or geography or education, from a real social-sciences perspective. So I didn’t come to this work to do just one thing. I want to do it all. It’s important I do work I can feel good about. As actors, we’re always trying to break out of whatever box we’re in, and I’d rather be breaking out of the respected actor box than the video ho box.”