ABC’s ‘Scandal’ season 3: Was there once a world without Kerry Washington?

Going into the third season of “Scandal,” imagine what this world would have looked like had it not featured Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope. While she clearly earned the part in the ABC smash hit, she was not the only key actress to audition for it back during the spring of 2011.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Gabrielle Union revealed that she had at one point thrown her name into the hat to play the Olivia role, which to her was a sign that women and minorities could have a chance to play enormous starring roles, and did not have to relegate themselves to just supporting characters or background players. She was able to use that to jump into her own program later on BET, which she is grateful to have today:

“[With ‘Scandal’] I said to myself, ‘Oh my God, these roles are out there.’ It showed me that you don’t have to settle. Luckily, the success of her and the show bred more work. Just from the audition process, I knew that I couldn’t go backward.”

Going into season 1, no one really knew just how “Scandal” was going to work. It was a saucy political show that touched on subjects of betrayal and adultery, and the fact that the lead character was involved in many of them did not exactly cause her to be seen as a traditional hero. Luckily, audiences embraced the Olivia character more and more over time, and now Kerry has an Emmy-caliber performance under her belt, and the ratings going into season 3 are incredibly strong.

Do you think that “Scandal” would be in the same place that it is today if Gabrielle was starring in the show rather than Kerry? Be sure to click here if you want to see what a pair of other stars from the show (in Tony Goldwyn and Bellamy Young) are saying during this key awards season.

Photo: ABC