Sandra Oh and Kerry Washington had a lot to talk about when recently participated in Varietyannual of the Actors in the Actors of the conversation of the series. In addition to talking about their latest projects, Oh, and Washington looked back on his time working with the legendary Shonda Rhimes in Grey’s anatomy and Scandal, respectively. “We both went through a lot in our shows,” Oh, ” he said.
Washington said he learned a lot of portray political fixer Olivia Pope in the Rhimes of the Scandal since the year 2012 until the year 2018. “When you do that many television stations, I don’t feel like there is something that I have not been invited to do real. I feel empowered,” he said. “If you ask me to do something as an actor, it may take me a minute to figure out where it is in my toolbox, but in the course of the seven seasons, I’ve bought that tool.”
“This type of resistance is part of what I have learned in Shondaland.”
Washington went on to share a memory of once seeing O memorize their lines at a fair prize. “I was like, ‘She is my people. That’s who I am!’ I would like to go to all the awards with a monologue in my bag because I don’t have time not to do so. I do not have the luxury of not working,” Washington said. She added, “this type of resistance is part of what I have learned in Shondaland.”
Oh, who portrayed Dr. Cristina Yang for a decade in Grey’s anatomyI could relate to. “I feel like one of my biggest successes was, for me, in 10 years, I don’t feel like I gave up. Don’t give up on your work, your process, the character,” Oh, ” he said. “You have to time about resilience . . . You have to pick your moments where you can lay off the gas pedal, because it is hard.”
In a fun twist, Oh went on to reveal that she had her eye on the role of Olivia Pope. “I have to tell you: I remember exactly where I was when I read that damn pilot . . . We were in the stage five. I was in Grey. Someone sneaks up to me. I don’t know who it was, but I got my hands on that pilot. I have read and I was like, ‘How can I play Olivia Pope?'” At the time, Rhimes apparently, replied, “No, you have to play Cristina Yang!” Oh, he added, “it Is so wonderful and rare when you get in your hands something that you know is electric.”
See the lighting of exchange up, and go to 38:09 to listen to the two discuss the work with Rhimes.
