The Cast and Creatives of Scandal took to the PaleyFest red carpet on March 15, 2016 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Gladiators unite! And that they did. Thousands of fans came out to honor the cast and creative geniuses behind ABC’s hit show Scandal. Event attendees were even given an early world premiere of this week’s episode (which premiered Thursday, March 17), followed by a panel and Q&A will the stars.
Producers Shonda Rhimes (Creative, EP) and Betsey Beers (EP) couldn’t help but be elated about their ABC hit getting picked up for another season.
Good Morning America’s Laura Spencer, praised the cast for how genuine each of them are. It was evident that the cast shares nothing but laughter and fun constantly on set. Tony Goldwyn spoke about the many times Kerry Washington will purposely act goofy when he directs an episode. At one point, some of the cast members even broke out in song, rapping lyrics from the Broadway hit, Hamilton (as seen in the video).
The cast spoke about how each of their characters are evolving this season. Papa Pope and Jake have built a father/son relationship out of nowhere, Huck is on a quest to be a better man, and is Abby turning a bit evil? Though Rhimes jokingly refers to her writing room as the “very twisted dark room”, she quickly defended that none of her characters are evil, they just “have the wrong priorities”. Kerry than posed the question (in referring to their characters) “who on this stage has the right priorities?”. The audience roared in laughter and agreement after Cornelius Smith Jr. (who plays Marcus) yelled out “I do”. Earlier that night, the cast surprised Smith with Sprinkles cupcakes in honor of his birthday coming up on March 18th!
The cast also made sure to address last season’s controversial winter finale ending. When an audience member asked Rhimes if “Fitz” will ever learn about the abortion, her response was clear, “Does he need to”? She explained that the show wanted to prove the point that women have every right to their body and that they should never have to explain their actions to anyone. Fans will eagerly look forward to this season continuing to address important political topics.
A cast that Kerry Washington states, “always brings their A game”, is all thanks to their writers. The writers make sure to give the actors plenty of freedom, especially their creator Shonda Rhimes. She says “I give them the words to say, but I never tell them how to read my words”.
Scandal fans, continue to stay on the edge of your seats because this season is promised to be exciting. In the words of Kerry Washington, “if you thought this week’s episode was crazy, wait till next week”.
Catch the entire panel discussion on Hulu!
Guest Blogger – Haley Coleman
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