PHOTOS50 Mind-Blowing Facts about Scandal
Scandal is back tonight! Gear up, gladiators, by perusing these crazy facts about the amazing ABC show, its cast, and its creators. Then be sure to share the info with your fellow Olitz fans.
Eagle-eyed Scandal fans may notice that Fitz always wears his Navy shirts when he's stressed out about Olivia.
Guillermo Diaz is openly gay and has walked the red carpet with his boyfriend, Mike.
Olivia Pope is based on Judy Smith, who was Deputy Press Secretary to President George H. W. Bush.
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Tony Goldwyn has said his favorite scene of the series is when Fitz performed a certain sex act on Olivia during his inauguration. Ahem.
George Newbern (Charlie) was way less creepy when he was just the sweet groom in Father of the Bride.
You're not imagining it: the music on Scandal is awesome. Music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas is the best in the business, having also worked on Grey's Anatomy, Gossip Girl, Mad Men, and The OC.
Executive producer Betsy Beers does a podcast after every episode, sometimes with cast members.
There is a real Defiance County, Ohio, but their votes in 2008 and 2012 weren't as crazy tight as they were on Scandal. It's about 55% Republican, 42% Democrat there.
Tony Goldwyn has no eyebrows! In case you've never noticed...
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Tony Goldwyn can sing. He's performed as Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music and is on the original cast recording of the Promises, Promises soundtrack.
Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes also wrote the classic Britney Spears film Crossroads.
Gabrielle Union was up for the role of Olivia Pope.
Scott Foley appeared on the '90s teen soaps Sweet Valley High and Dawson's Creek before breaking out on Felicity.
If it seems like Gregg Henry was really great as meanie Hollis Doyle on Scandal, he's had practice. He destroyed Rory's dreams of being a journalist as Mitchum Huntzberger on Gilmore Girls.
Kate Burton (who plays Vice President Sally Langston) is the daughter of Richard Burton, so she grew up with Elizabeth Taylor as her on-again, off-again step-mother.
Katie Lowes' husband, Adam Shapiro, guest-starred as her character's boyfriend, Jesse Tyler, the Cytron employee who met his demise thanks to Hollis Doyle.
Jeff Perry (Cyrus) is married to Scandal's casting director, Linda Lowy.
She also cast him on Shonda Rhimes other show, Grey's Anatomy.
Dan Bucatinsky (James) is a frequent collaborator with season three guest star Lisa Kudrow. He executive produced her shows The Comeback and Web Therapy.
Kerry Washington has played the wife in two movies in which the husband wound up winning an Oscar: Jamie Foxx, in Ray, and Forest Whitaker, in The Last King of Scotland.
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Darby Stanchfield (Abby) had a memorable past role on Mad Men, in which she was slapped across the face by January Jones (Betty Draper).
Kerry Washington has campaigned for President Obama and spoke at the Democratic National Convention.
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Kerry Washington's big break was her role in Save the Last Dance.
Kerry Washington attended Spence, the same posh private high school as Gwyneth Paltrow, though they were four years apart.
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When Olitz appear together, their scenes are often scored by their own official song, "The Light," by the Album Leaf.
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Like her alter ego Olivia Pope, Kerry Washington is a swimmer. She was on the swim team in high school!
She's known for rocking neutrals, but Olivia Pope also only wears gold Movado watches. An accident? No, Kerry Washington is a spokesperson for Movado!
Tony Goldwyn was the voice of Tarzan in the 1999 Disney film.
Tony Goldwyn has deep Hollywood roots. He is the grandson of Samuel Goldwyn, who started a movie studio that eventually became MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer).
Khandi Alexander, who plays Mama Pope, has said she would totally pick Scott Foley over Tony Goldwyn in the Olivia Pope love triangle. Sorry, Fitz.
Season 3 was cut short due to star Kerry Washington's pregnancy.
Kerry Washington has said that if the president on Scandal had been black, she wouldn't have signed on to the show. She said it would've given people the impression that Olitz was somehow inspired by her relationship with President Obama.
Khandi Alexander (who plays Olivia's mother) and Columbus Short (who plays Harrison) were both offered their roles on the show without having to audition.
Most of the cast is from New York City. Kerry Washington is from the Bronx, Joe Morton (Papa Pope) is from Harlem, Katie Lowes (Quinn) is from Queens, Guillermo Diaz (Huck) grew up in Washington Heights, and Joshua Malina (David Rosen) went to high school in Manhattan.
Olivia Pope was named the second most influential fictional character of the 2013 by Time magazine.
Katie Lowes was Connie Britton's nanny before she got her big break.
Joshua Malina once saved Aaron Sorkin's life by giving him the Heimlich maneuver, and Sorkin has since cast him in many of his projects, with critics even calling him Sorkin's "good luck charm."
Shonda Rhimes originally offered Scott Foley the role of Stephen Finch, the gladiator member of OPA eventually played by Henry Ian Cusick, who left after the first season. ABC reportedly didn't want Foley for the part.
Guillermo Diaz is pretty different from his dark character Huck. He was voted the class clown of his high school class!
Darby Stanchfield is a TV guest star extraordinaire. You can spot her on Castle, NCIS, How I Met Your Mother, The Mentalist, Nip/Tuck, Without a Trace, and many more.
Bellamy Young's real name is Amy Young, but when she joined the Screen Actors Guild, there was already an Amy Young on the books. She had to change her name.
Columbus Short was nominated for a MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Performance for his role in Stomp the Yard.
Bellamy Young is a total smarty pants. She studied at Yale and Oxford.
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Olivia Pope's giant, long-stemmed wine glasses are available at Crate and Barrel, and sales are way up thanks to Scandal. It's the Camille model.
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Columbus Short is a talented dancer and choreographer. He choreographed Britney Spears' Onyx Hotel Tour.
Darby Stanchfield has an amazing behind-the-scenes Instagram. Follow her at @darbysofficial.
Guillermo Diaz went on a crazy road trip with Britney Spears in her music video for "I Wanna Go."
The President and Vice President have played husband and wife on film and on stage before. Tony Goldwyn and Kate Burton played a married couple in the Showtime movie Love Matters and the play The Water's Edge, in which Kate undressed Tony completely naked.
George Newbern has been the voice of Superman in multiple video games and cartoons.
Jeff Perry played English teacher Richard Katimski on My So-Called Life.
