Los Angeles, Apr 19 (IANS): Actress Kerry Washington, who is expecting her first child soon, says she has learnt a lot from her pregnancy and that it has made her a better actress.

The 37-year-old told The Hollywood Reporter: "I work very physically as an actor. The biggest thing for me has been the challenge of how to be this person with the personal transformation that's going on for me physically and how to stay true to this character. That hasn't been easy."

The actress, who is expecting the child with husband and former football player Nnamdi Asomugha, said that it was a challenge to hide her growing baby bump while filming the third season of TV series "Scandal".

Her character Olivia Pope in the TV show isn't pregnant, but it has made the actress more aware of her movements, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Washington who was praised for her maternity style, added: "It's been an awesome challenge for me as an actor because so much of how I access character is through my body. It's definitely been complicated, to say the least. I've learned a lot about other ways to access Olivia and be her."

The actress apparently had no input in the decision not to incorporate her pregnancy into the plot.

She said: "The decision of whether or not a character would be on a similar journey, I had nothing to do with that decision. I trust (writer/creator) Shonda (Rhimes) with all things. I feel very grateful that we have such an amazing team that was able to protect the character within the context of what the actress was going through."