Buzzfeed Brews, the news outlet’s video series, featured a panel discussion last night with social television’s favorite (and maybe pioneering) stars: Ellen Pompeo of “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal’s” Kerry Washington, and Viola Davis of ABC’s new show, “How to Get Away With Murder.”
All three shows are written and produced by Shonda Rhimes, comprising what fans call “Shondaland Thursdays” or ABC’s “Shondaverse,” depending on their level of enthusiasm. The panel discussion, moderated by Buzzfeed’s Kate Arthur, focused on Rhime’s knack for creating strong female leads, diverse casts, and most importantly, social buzz.
Here are some highlights.
Ellen Pompeo praised a humble Kerry Washington for her role in gathering the “Gladiators” on social media:
Kerry was so instrumental for making “Scandal” what it is, not to take anything away from Shonda, but it was really Kerry’s sort of political side that she pushed through. She made people watch it and made people pay attention. The whole Twitter thing — Kerry deserves a lot of credit for taking a leadership role in that.
Washington on delivering those Olivia Pope monologues (in a very Pope-ian manner):
You don’t have the luxury like in theater where you can live with the words….no, because we have eleven pages tomorrow. The pace is athletic. Doing TV is atheletic. It’s the most athletic thing I’ve ever done and it will exhaust you. You just have to throw yourself in. I’m glad that I trust these writers. I feel so grateful for the writers room on “Scandal.”
On playing a woman who experiences “desire,” Washington deflected to the steamy upcoming premiere of “How To Get Away With Murder:”
I’ve seen the premiere! There’s a reason someone’s on at 10p.m. and I’m at 9 p.m. this year!
Towards the end, they were taking questions crowdsourced from Facebook and one fan asked if anyone on the panel had experienced sexism or racism. All three leading ladies broke into laughter which lasted for almost a minute before Washington gathered her thoughts. Have you seen the Internet, lately, random Facebook fan? The “Scandal” actress spoke for all three:
Somebody said to me recently, ‘Probably the most sexist thing that’s ever been said about me, I’ve never heard it, ‘cause I’m not even allowed in that room,’ and that’s something I think about a lot. And that’s part of why what Shonda does is so powerful, it’s ‘cause it’s her room. So in her room, that’s not happening
More spoiler alerts: Pompeo doesn’t see herself acting after “Grey’s” and Davis used to be a snooty theatre kid.
Watch for yourself: