Source(s): WENN, ABC

It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Columbus Short playing the role of smooth-talking, take-charge Harrison on ABC’s primetime political thriller, Scandal. However, actor Lance Gross recently revealed in an interview with Hot 97′s Angie Martinez that  he’d actually tried out for the role and he really wanted it. Unfortunately for him producers decided to go with Columbus Short instead.

“I was up for the Scandal role. Yeah, it hurts. It hurts. But, you know he’s [Columbus Short] killing it. He was right for it,” Gross admitted.

He also shared that there are a handful of popular Black male actors that he frequently runs into at auditions.

“I always see Columbus Short, Derek Luke, Jackie Long, Robbie Jones, a little bit of everybody.”

Gross went on to insist that although they frequently audition for the same roles, there is no bad blood between the fellas.

“Everybody uplifts everybody. I feel like the girls get catty about the roles more than the guys. We don’t do that. We just go in and try to be prepared. It’s friendly competition, just like sports.”

Surprisingly, the Temptation actor also revealed that he competed against Derek Luke for the role of Diddy in the Notorious biopic.

“I wanted to play Diddy in ‘Notorious.’ I went out for that. Derek got it. I think he did good. Derek did a great job. I love the movie.”

No disrespect to Lance, but my Olivia Pope gut instincts tell me that the folks over at Shondaland made the right decision when they selected Columbus to play Harrison.

Turn the page to watch Lance chat it up with Angie. Do you think he would’ve made a better Harrison? 

ABC

Gladiators, can we have a moment to talk, please?

Do the writers think that because so many other things have been going on with the show we have forgotten than Harrison Wright’s (played by Columbus Short) personal life and past has been virtually ignored? That’s not what’s happening, is it?

I thought that since we are in the midst of a three week Scandal hiatus (that hate mail goes to ABC, not to Shonda Rhimes or ShondaLand), it would be a good time to discuss a very important matter.

Back in February, The Hollywood Reporter did an interview with Rhimes and they asked her what was going on with his character. Her response was:

I consider Harrison to be the gun on the wall that we haven’t fired on purpose. The story of Harrison and his past — he used to work for Adnan Salif and then he went to jail — that thing that’s going to unfold, that’s a giant story that we want to unpack when it suits us most. We’ve been holding onto it. We will be getting glimpses and hints as to what’s to come.

Two weeks later, I tweeted him right before the first three week hiatus this year asking if Harrison would get a storyline this season and he told me, “It’s coming.” Now, what he said to me isn’t as important as what Shonda said but I wanted to point it out anyway just in case any of you thought you had an e-chance with him. You don’t, we go together as of February 21st. I thought I’d put that out there now.

Back to Shonda’s answer. I get that Shonda and the writing team don’t work in a way that’s best conducive to us as viewers. If you do that, you’ll never satisfy everyone and probably hate the show as the creators/writers. So, I do get it.  However, that interview was posted in early February so where are the glimpses and hints?  I don’t think we’ve missed anything; all Harrison has been doing is working, working, working.

We’ve only seen him in the office asking Olivia what she wants him to do, almost like a right hand man.  When he’s not doing that, he’s busy reminding Abby and Quinn that they’re “gladiators” and sometimes, questions don’t need to be asked. Wait.  Is the latter a clue?  I guess it could be but no one there really asks questions (besides Quinn) so that can’t be it.  It’s fine to be Olivia’s right hand or be the “cheerleader” when the team is starting to question why they’re still involved in the company. But it’s not fine to be just that when there’s clearly more to him than that and the ability to be a lady charmer when necessary.  I’m just really lost about this whole thing.

The reality is that there will only be four episodes left in season two when Scandal returns on April 25th. Yes, four episodes is more than enough time for a Harrison storyline to unfold but is that going to happen? Look at what he’s up against: (1) Huck and Quinn looking like they might have a late night hook up; (2) David, Abby and their unresolved issues in their love affair and; (3) we don’t know who the hell Jake is and why he’s been stalking Olivia.  The last one alone is likely going to take up most of the episodes since Olivia is the main character.

This is not looking good.  I mean, a fine and smart brother like that is getting no shine in Washington, D.C.?  Chocolate City?  Am I the only one who thought he was going to get with the black woman who was an executive at the company on the March 21st episode (the one where the woman had the affair with the Supreme Court Justice candidate)?  They let that one go too.

Let’s be clear: I’m still here for Scandal. It’s a smart show with a super fly lead character.  I just want to know when the brother will get some love – or hell, some hate.

What do you say? Do you think we’ll get any insight on Harrison’s background when the show comes back? What would you like to see happen with him?

Source: ABC

Dear Harrison,

Week in and week out I tune in and see you, looking like the personification of Justin Timberlake’s Suit & Tie, pensive, mouth turned down. Every week you are caught up in some new circle of hell that Olivia Pope drags you into and it is seems that *you* are always the fall man when ish gets real. The buck stops here.

I see you go to the ends of the Earth for her, all because she looked out when you almost went down for insider trading. So? Olivia Pope’s a dirty dealer and still gets to run around DC without even sweating out her sew-in. What’s more messed up is that even when you reverse engineered her shenanigans, she still didn’t trust you enough to tell you what’s really going on. You had to ask her what she needed. Twice. You would never have to do that with me. I’m just sayin’.

I have questions, Harrison. How come, as fine as you are, with a razor sharp shape up that would put even Steve Harvey’s old lacefront to shame, you are never the center of someone’s love story? A man like you in a city like DC should never have a hard time finding someone to keep you warm in the cold winter months. I’m sure you’ve been to every exclusive lounge or club in the city, and I’m also sure that you could have your pick of any of the lawyers/marketing directors/government employees at the bar. Everyone else in Olivia’s crew has someone keeping the home fires burning – Cyrus has James, boring Quinn had a boo before he got killed, and hell, even creepy-A$$ Huck had an assassin-lover for a hot second. So then why isn’t your heart allowed to flourish? It just doesn’t make sense.

Why don’t you ever go against her, Harrison? She has you out here in the line of fire doing her petty work while she scampers off in her perfectly little wardrobe to sleaze it up with the President. Meanwhile, you sacrifice having a life.  What root has Olivia put on you that you can’t leave? What favor do you owe her? Did she help you convict the crew that got your brother killed in Stomp the Yard? Seriously it has to be something – is she a relative? Your baby’s mother? From what I can tell all she does is hog up the screen, trembling that lip and wiggling her eyebrows like a damn maniac.

If only you’d open your eyes then you’d see, Harrison, that I’m not the only girl out here that’s riding hard for you. There are probably hundreds, maybe thousands, of women like me, yearning to be Mrs. Wright pun intended. We want to see your chiseled face on screen more, speaking, getting the love you rightfully deserve. And you don’t have to worry about calling and figuring out where we are, or what we’re doing, because we’ll be with you every Thursday, 10 PM EST.

If you’re a fan of Shonda Rhimes’ latest hit show, “Scandal,” then you know that the show’s lead character, Olivia Pope, has a few catch phrases she falls back on from time to time. If you can’t guess what they are, you’ll know them when you hear them. Check out the video above and afterward tell us what else Oliva Pope has been known to say.

Source: ABC

If you didn’t see last night’s episode of “Scandal,” you need to stop reading now. There are tons of spoilers ahead.

*Waves goodbye.*

As for the rest of you, whew, chile! Wasn’t it a doozy?! Shonda and her co-writers pulled out all the stops. There’s a reason ABC referred to this episode as “The GameChanger.” It really shook some things up and revealed things about certain characters I would have never seen coming. Fitz, the golden boy is out here killing folks. Cyrus was literally seconds away from killing his husband and father of their child. Abby had to forsake her relationship with David for Olivia Pope and Associates and Quinn was all ready to get her hands dirty, hiring Huck to kill Hollis Doyle. It was a lot. Nobody’s hands are clean anymore, with the exception of David…for now.

Because last night’s episode and the series in general are just too good not to discuss, The Hollywood Reporter caught up with the show’s creator, Shona Rhimes to talk about what last night’s episodes might mean for the characters in the future. Here are a couple of the highlights. 

On Fitz killing Verna

THR: How will Fitz deal with the guilt of his role in Verna’s death? Will it eat away at him?

Rhimes: The very act of illegally making him president undoes the things they were all making him president for — thinking Fitz is good, he’s better than everybody else, he most deserves to be president because he’s pure and he believes it and he’s the real deal. Olivia’s betrayal and her choosing to believe that he couldn’t do it on his own and fixing the election for him is basically her proving to him that he is in fact everything his father ever said he was. It’s every fear he ever had.

THR: How will Fitz’s role in Verna’s death change his moral compass?

Rhimes: I don’t believe that he threw his morals out the window and is now just a bad guy. He did a terrible thing and now he thinks that he’s a terrible person who doesn’t deserve anything more than Mellie. He feels very embittered about what’s happened to him and he’s probably going to struggle to be possibly even a better president than he was before.

The Love Triangle

THR: How will Fitz and Mellie work together going forward?

Rhimes: Her position is tenuous at best. I don’t think that these two people are meant for one another. She’s struggling for her position in his world and he may have said, “It’s you and me,” but I don’t know that he fully either understands what that’s going to mean or if he even knows how to do that with her.

THR: What’s Fitz and Olivia’s relationship like now that he’s dismissed her?

Rhimes: They have a very steamy and painful thing. Obviously, Fitz and Liv are never going to be over. I don’t think that “over” is a word that’s in their vocabulary. Has it morphed into something else? Yes.

What about Columbus? 

THR: Harrison (Columbus Short) hasn’t had a central story-line in the first half. What does he have coming?

Rhimes: I consider Harrison to be the gun on the wall that we haven’t fired on purpose. The story of Harrison and his past — he used to work for Adnan Salif and then he went to jail — that thing that’s going to unfold, that’s a giant story that we want to unpack when it suits us most. We’ve been holding onto it. We will be getting glimpses and hints as to what’s to come.

Well, well well. Interesante.

A couple of things though: I, for one am willing to argue that yeah Fitz threw his morals out the window when he removed Verna’s oxygen mask and watched her struggle in her last moments in life… but that’s just me.

And while I know it would be terrible for the show for Fitz and Olivia to end their relationship, a large part of me just wishes they would. It’s just way to messy. Plus, the way he played her was completely unacceptable. She should at least cuss him out one good time before the inevitably get back together.

And lastly, I’m sooo ready to know about Columbus Short’s story. On the occasions that he does get to speak, he’s always going in, so it’ll be interesting to learn why he’s so ride-or-die for Olivia Pope.

And lastly, can we please get some more back story on Cyrus?! Homeboy really flipped last night. I wonder if James will ever find out his husband almost had him offed.

What predictions do you have about “Scandal”? Do you want to see Olivia and Fitz together?

Read the rest of her interview and learn more about what’s coming up next for the characters at The Hollywood Reporter. 

Can’t wait for the next episode of “Scandal” to air? Like you, we can’t get enough of ABC’s hit show — which just so happens to air tonight at 10 pm — either. For those who haven’t yet come into the fold, or the other people who just want to ravish in all things Scandalicious, check out a few of the things we absolutely love about watching the show.

Let’s admit it ladies. While we love our tall, handsome men, short brothers can be fine, too. A suave man with a great personality, a gorgeous smile and smoldering eyes doesn’t have to be six-foot-something. In this case, size doesn’t matter. Check out our list of short and fine brothers and let us know what you think.

Look who is just killing the game!

The Emmy-nominated Grey’s Anatomy‘s and Private Practice producer is back with a new series, a drama called “Scandal” for her homies at ABC. The drama will star actress Kerry Washington, cutie Columbus Short, and a slew of others who play employees at a crisis-management firm; a bunch of shiny-suit wearing PR folks who work in fixing up the disastrous mistakes and moves of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Washington fills big shoes playing the head of the firm and the former consultant to the President of the United States, Olivia Pope. In an interview with CNN, Washington says she wasn’t looking to do work on television at the time, but was blown away by the well-written script:

“I was not looking to do a TV show, but I read this amazing script with this amazing woman named Olivia Pope, and it happened to be for TV and so I thought maybe I want to do something different. Once I read it, I wanted to do whatever I had to do to be a part of it.”

The show is said to be loosely based around Judy Smith, a PR vet who has been in the business for 25 years, and the founder of the famous crisis management firm, Impact Strategies. Washington rubbed elbows with Smith to get prepared for the role. It’s exciting to see Washington get such a big acting opportunity on the small screen, and seeing as she’s an amazing actress on the big screen, she’ll probably knock this role out of the park. Love to see black women on top!

Will you be watching?

Check out the trailer for the new show below:

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