HBO looks back at Thomas 'Confirmation'

PASADENA, Calif. – HBO is taking a new look at one of the pivotal political and judicial events of the 1990s with Confirmation, a depiction of the contentious Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Clarence Thomas.

Wendell Pierce plays Thomas, who was confirmed and now serves on the high court, and Kerry Washington plays Anita Hill, a law professor who testified that Thomas sexually harassed her when he was her supervisor at the U.S. Department of Education. Greg Kinnear plays then-Sen. Joe Biden, who headed the Senate hearings on Thomas' nomination. The film premieres in the spring.

Scandal star Washington says the confirmation hearing was a significant event in the public's understanding of matters relating to women, sexual harassment and race.

"It changed the global conversation" and led to recognition of the issue of sexual harassment, she said, adding that a harassment orientation the actors went through before filming is one of the byproducts of that earlier event."It's inspiring how much changed … how we were transformed by these events."

In addition, Washington said "we began to partake of what we now think of as the 24-hour news cycle" with televised coverage of the hearing, which transfixed the nation.

Pierce says he tried to find connections to Thomas, rather than focusing on him as a polarizing figure.

"As an actor, you're always searching for the humanity of the character. … I had to check my prejudices about who he was," said Pierce, who found common points in their Southern upbringings and relationships with their grandfathers. "I didn't think of him as a political figure; I thought of him as a man" who was about to lose his biggest opportunity.