Gladiators, It’s Time to Catch Up With the ‘Scandal’ Cast!
Put on your white hat, grab your popcorn and wine and settle in, because we found out everything you need to know
You say you’ve been wanting to catch up with the A-List stars that made up the Scandal cast? It’s handled! From what Kerry Washington hopes viewers will take away from her character to which actor was terrified of being killed off, this cast is almost as dramatic as the characters they play.
Scandal aired on ABC from 2012 to 2018 and followed former White House Communications Director Olivia Pope (Washington), as she navigates managing a crisis management firm in the midst of Washington D.C. The show had torrid love affairs juicy plot twists with some thrilling adventures thrown into the mix.
Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about the Scandal cast.
Wanting to give it a watch? Scandal is available for streaming on Hulu.
Kerry Washington
CHARACTER PLAYED: Oliva Pope
BORN: January 31, 1977, in The Bronx, New York City.
BEST KNOWN FOR: Our Song (2000), Fantastic Four (2005), Cars 3 (2017), Little Fires Everywhere (2020) and The School for Good and Evil (2022).
PERSONAL: Washington has been married to Nnamdi Asomugha since 2013. They have two children together.
THOUGHTS ON SCANDAL: “My role in Scandal teaches women that you don’t have to be an accessory. You can be the lead in your own life,” Washington said.
FUN FACT: Seasons 3 and 6 of Scandal were cut short to accommodate Washington’s pregnancies.
Tony Goldwyn in the Scandal cast
CHARACTER PLAYED: President Fitzgerald Grant III
BORN: May 20, 1960, in Los Angeles, California.
BEST KNOWN FOR: Ghost (1990), Tarzan (1999), The Last Samurai (2003), Divergent (2014), Murder Mystery 2 (2023), Oppenheimer (2023), and Law & Order (2024).
PERSONAL: Goldwyn has been married to Jane Musky since 1987. They have two children together.
THOUGHTS ON SCANDAL: “I had met Shonda [Rhimes] several years before when I directed one of the first episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and worked for her for a couple of years on that, and then I didn’t see her for eight years. Suddenly she thought, ‘Wow, Tony’d be an interesting choice for Fitz.’ And ‘Tony, you want to play the president on my new show?’ and I replied, ‘Wow. ‘Okay, sure. Why not?’ So it’s funny how things come around.”
FUN FACT: Despite his character being a Republican, Goldwyn actually supports the Democratic Party in real life and even campaigned for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Bellamy Young
CHARACTER PLAYED: Mellie Grant
BORN: February 19, 1970, in Asheville, North Carolina.
BEST KNOWN FOR: We Were Soldiers (2002), Mission Impossible III (2006), Promised Land (2022), A Waltons Thanksgiving (2022) and The Other Black Girl (2023).
PERSONAL: Young has been married to Pedro Segundo since 2021.
THOUGHTS ON SCANDAL: “It started out as such a small part — I could never dream it would turn into the ride it did. And I know she’s fictional, but I feel like Mellie has dreamed of being president since she was in diapers. Sometimes I get really overcome — I’m so happy for her.“
FUN FACT: Mellie was originally supposed to be in only four to five episodes, but Shonda Rhimes changed her mind after getting to know Young.
Scott Foley in the Scandal cast
CHARACTER PLAYED: Jake Ballard
BORN: July 15, 1972, in Kansas City, Kansas.
BEST KNOWN FOR: Felicity (1998-2002), Scream 3 (2000), The Unit (2006-2009), Grey’s Anatomy (2010-2012) and The Girls on the Bus (2024).
PERSONAL: Foley was married to Jennifer Garner from 2000 to 2004, but the two divorced. He is now married to Marika Dominczyk, and they have three children.
THOUGHTS ON SCANDAL: “It’s hard to put into words what the show had done for me. I’ve never been a part of something that has really captured the zeitgeist like Scandal has, and to be an integral part of that, I’m extremely grateful. I understand how fortunate I am and how rare an occurrence it is.”
FUN FACT: Foley directed three different episodes of Scandal.
MUST READ: 18 of the Most Memorable Grey’s Anatomy Cast Members Then and Now
Katie Lowes
CHARACTER PLAYED: Quinn Perkins
BORN: September 22, 1982, in Queens, New York City.
BEST KNOWN FOR: Wreck-It Ralph (2012), Zootopia (2016), Inventing Anna (2022) and How We Roll (2022).
PERSONAL: Lowes has been married to Adam Shapiro since 2012. They have two children together.
THOUGHTS ON SCANDAL: “I really think that Scandal calls upon my training more than any other job I’ve ever had. I think that is especially true because of the pace in which we speak and the diction. In college, I spent eight hours a day learning and performing Shakespeare, and that’s what I use when I speak on Scandal. It’s the same thing. “
FUN FACT: Before getting cast in Scandal, Lowes used to babysit to help supplement her income.
Darby Stanchfield in the Scandal cast
CHARACTER PLAYED: Abby Whelan
BORN: April 29, 1971, in Kodiak, Alaska.
BEST KNOWN FOR: The Picture of Dorian Gray (2004), The Waitress (2007), Stargirl (2020), Locke & Key (2020-2022) and Willie and Me (2023).
PERSONAL: Stanchfield has been married to Joseph Mark Gallegos since 2009.
THOUGHTS ON SCANDAL: “So much of what I thought would be the end of the show, they’ve already blown through all those doors. I, like many other people who watch Scandal, thought that the show was going to end with Olivia and Fitz together.”
FUN FACT: In the episode “Dead in the Water” (Season 6, Episode 9: 2017), Stanchfield was actually slapped by Washington three different times.
Guillermo Díaz
CHARACTER PLAYED: Huck
BORN: Díaz was born in 1975 in New Jersey.
BEST KNOWN FOR: Stonewall (1995), The Terminal (2004), Weeds (2007-2012) and Law & Order: Organized Crime (2021-2022).
THOUGHTS ON SCANDAL: “We had to do all these rehearsals of how they were going to waterboard me and pour the water on my face upside down, and it was intense,” Díaz remembered. “I would come to set, and they would just spray me down with water.”
FUN FACT: Despite being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community in real life, Díaz’s character on Scandal is straight.
Jeff Perry in the Scandal cast
CHARACTER PLAYED: Cyrus Beene.
BORN: August 16, 1955, in Highland Park, Illinois.
BEST KNOWN FOR: Wild Things (1998), Nash Bridges (1996-2001), Grey’s Anatomy (2006-2019) and Inventing Anna (2022).
PERSONAL: Perry was married to Laurie Metcalf for three years, and they have one child together. Now, he is with Linda Lowy, and they also have one child together.
THOUGHTS ON SCANDAL: “There’s a dichotomous strain in Cyrus, and I kind of pin an inordinate amount of connection and empathy with him. There’s kind of a better angel in there — often hiding! — of idealism, something I remind myself of when he’s being most Machiavellian, most strident, most murderous.”
FUN FACT: Perry’s daughter Zoe appeared on the show as Samantha Ruland. She was in nine episodes in total. She’s probably best known as Mary Cooper on Young Sheldon.
Joshua Malina
CHARACTER PLAYED: David Rosen.
BORN: January 17, 1966 in New York City.
BEST KNOWN FOR: Sports Night (1998-2000), The West Wing (2002-2006), Thrilling Adventure Hour Live (2015) and American Auto (2022-2023).
PERSONAL: Malina has been married to Melissa Merwin since 1996. They have two children together.
THOUGHTS ON SCANDAL: “You want to hate David Rosen because he might be the mole? Bring it. Do you want to hate me because I play him? I will gladly interface with you on the subject, and I’ll sink to your level so quickly it’ll make your head spin. Gladiators — or ‘gladioli’ as I like to call them — are a wonderful, diverse, creative, vocal bunch with whom I love to interact.”
FUN FACT: Malina was so scared of being killed off that he would always read the last part of the script first to make sure it didn’t happen.
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