Connie Britton Was the First Choice for ‘Scandal’

Connie Britton was actually the first choice to play Olivia Pope on Scandal, but showrunner Shonda Rhimes felt strongly that the character should be black.

Shonda said:

“Nothing felt more important than the sense of outsiderness. I didn’t know that there hadn’t been a drama series with a leading black woman for 37 years. When the show got picked up [to pilot], I got a phone call from somebody who said, ‘This would be the perfect show for Connie Britton.’ I said, ‘It would be, except Olivia Pope is black.'”

She added that Kerry was the obvious choice when she auditioned for the role, but that it was a bit of a surprise that she felt so right.

“She could talk Washington more than I could talk Washington. She was different than what I originally envisioned. We were all like, ‘Oh my God,’ because she’s tiny, cute, pretty and younger — and because she was all those things, she was aware that people would underestimate her. Then when we were searching for somebody to be the president, nobody wanted to [play the president] because they weren’t the lead.”