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Shonda Rhimes Talks Casting Kerry Washington as 'Scandal's Olivia Pope: 'I Knew I Wanted Kerry'

Shonda Rhimes Talks Casting Kerry Washington as 'Scandal's Olivia Pope: 'I Knew I Wanted Kerry'

Shonda Rhimes and the cast of Scandal celebrated the series finale of their hit ABC show on Thursday night (April 19) with a special appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Stars Kerry Washington, Guillermo Diaz, Darby Stanchfield, Katie Lowes, Tony Goldwyn, Jeff Perry, Joshua Malina, Bellamy Young, Scott Foley, Joe Morton, Cornelius Smith Jr. and George Newbern were all in attendance.

PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Scandal

Kerry and Shonda came out first, and recalled how casting her as Olivia Pope went down: “I remember you first coming in,” Shonda said on the show, turning to Kerry. “Kerry first came in, and I had been meeting like all of these actresses.”

“Everybody wanted this part,’ Kerry added. “But you came in and it was amazing!” said Shonda. ‘It was literally like two seconds in, you started talking about politics and I knew I wanted Kerry for the part.”

Shonda also reveals that, yes, she knows what that ending means, and no, she’s never telling. “I get one last thing to say is a spoiler that I get to hold onto ’til the end of my life,” Shonda said – Watch all the videos below!


Shonda Rhimes on Casting Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope

FYI: Kerry is wearing a Johanna Ortiz dress.

Click inside to watch the rest of the Scandal’s cast appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live…


Shonda Rhimes & Kerry Washington on Scandal Series Finale

Scandal Cast on Emotional Final Episode
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