One way of eliciting superb acting from the stars of a TV series is not to tell them the whole storyline so that when it is time for them to face the camera and do the scenes, they will act genuinely because they are not aware of what is up next for their respective characters.
It seems like showrunner Shonda Rhimes has taken on the same approach with the American political drama TV series “Scandal” on ABC, which is currently in its fifth season.
It was lead star Kerry Washington, who plays the role of Olivia Pope in the TV series, who recently admitted that she has been kept in the dark about most of the show’s major plot twists.
But the actress has taken it on a positive note because she is happy and contented with how Rhimes and her team drive the storyline of “Scandal,” reports the Christian Post.
Unaware of her character’s abortion
In particular, Washington cited her character’s abortion during the first half of the current fifth season of “Scandal.”
In a recent interview, the actress revealed that she had no idea that the abortion scene was coming until she turned the page at the table read and read it out aloud with everybody else.
However, she admits that there are occasional moments when Shonda Rhimes will give her a hint about something that is coming but it is a very, very rare occurrence.
She validated that Shonda and the writers are in control of the plotlines of the show and she, along with the other actors of “Scandal” are just there to bring those characters to life.
Campaign period heats up
As a political drama on the small screen, “Scandal” seems to pattern with the real-life US presidential campaign so things have been heating up with the presidential candidates and their campaign managers.
Episode 16 of “Scandal” titled “The Miseducation of Susan Ross” that aired on March 31, actually pick up where Episode 15 left off highlighting the Republican debate between Mellie, Susan Ross, and Hollis Doyle, reports Melty.
Mellie and Hollis also went head-to-head while Susan is so out of it that she can barely answer a question properly. Hollis then criticizes Mellie for having her ex-husband’s ex-mistress, referring to Olivia Pope, to run her campaign.
Immediately following the debate, Mellie is discouraged and thinks that Americans hate her. But Olivia promises to get her to the Oval Office come hell or high water. Kerry Washington has, in fact, teased on social media that the real reason that Olivia feels very supportive to Mellie is because she feels that it is the right thing to do.
As its name implies, “Scandal” continues to focus on Olivia Pope and her crisis management firm, Olivia Pope & Associates and its staff, working together with some of the staff of the White House in Washington D.C. especially in dealing with various political scandals.
In an interview before the Season 5 premiere, Shonda Rhimes said that Season 5 of “Scandal” will focus on Olivia and Fitz becoming the only people standing in a single piece. She described that the world will be fairly blown apart for everybody except for ‘Olitz.’ Rhimes said that the storyline of Season 5 will upright at that moment in that kind of environment and the characters and plotlines will just take it from there.
As promised by the actress herself, Season 5 of also focused on the reconstitution of Olivia Pope & Associates as Rhimes hinted that the Gladiator concept was sidelined a bit during the fourth season to focus instead on healing Olivia.
Rhimes added that there were a lot of times during Season 4 of “Scandal” that only Huck and Quinn are gladiating by themselves, which was altogether a different dynamic.