For our 20th anniversary, Shondaland partnered with Entertainment Weekly to revisit some of the most iconic cultural TV moments born from our storytelling. From the creative minds behind the company — like Betsy Beers — to the actors who have graced your screens (hello, Kerry Washington!), and, of course, Shonda Rhimes, EW took a deep dive into Shondaland’s legacy. Now, we’re bringing you the best of this incredible celebration.
Babe, wake up. New interviews with Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn of Scandal and Stefania Spampinato and Danielle Savre of Station 19 just dropped!
Right when we’ve finally wrapped our heads around the fact that Shondaland has been around for a whole 20 years, we have yet another thing to cognitively download: Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn of Scandal and Stefania Spampinato and Danielle Savre of Station 19 just reunited for a conversation with Entertainment Weekly to celebrate the storytelling company’s anniversary and share new details about their on-screen relationships. And the tea is tea-ing.
We think there’s one unifying thing that everyone can agree on, and it’s that Shondaland does all things love and romance particularly well (okay, we’re a little biased). For the true Shondaland fans, we’ve combined all the interesting factoids from these beloved couples into one story. Read on to delight in all the delicious details that two of our all-time favorite Shondaland couples dished out in these exciting interviews.
Scandal’s Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn
Washington and Goldwyn met before Scandal
The first time Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn met, he wasn’t President Fitzgerald Grant III quite yet, but he was, ironically, in another presidential role. “I feel like there’s such a beautiful poetry to [the fact] that we were campaigning in Washington together,” Washington told Entertainment Weekly. “We were walking up and down the halls of Congress asking for more money for the arts and humanities. And you were co-president of the Creative Coalition at the time, so you were already in your executive office.” Goldwyn shared that he was already a huge fan of Washington’s work. “I just thought she was fantastic. Every time I’d see her in a movie, I’d be like, ‘Who’s that actress? I got to see who that is.’”
Their chemistry stunned everyone on the set into silence
When Shonda Rhimes offered Goldwyn the role, he told her he was “dying” to work with Washington, and Washington was “super-excited” that Goldwyn was in. At the camera test, Washington said, “I remember us both coming on set in our hair and makeup, and they were like, ‘You guys just stand next to each other on camera.’ And everybody in the room got weirdly quiet, and they were like, ‘Holy s–t.’ We were just standing around chatting on camera, but everybody was like, ‘What’s happening?’”
They had a secret language … and unbeknownst to them, the same therapist
While shooting one day, they were lying in bed chatting while lights were getting set up. “Tony said something that I was like, ‘Wait, what did you just say?’ And I said, ‘Oh, that’s so crazy that you just said that because that’s something that my therapist says.’ And he was like, ‘Who’s your therapist?’ And we realized that we had the same therapist,” Washington told E.W. “It explained so much. We had this emotional shorthand that we didn’t know where it came from, but when we got that information, it was like we truly are speaking the same language.” To be a fly on that wall …
Everything intentionally slowed down in scenes with Olivia and Fitz
On Scandal, pace was everything. “[Shonda] was sending us emails, ‘You guys have to talk faster,’” Goldwyn recalls. “She said, ‘The only time this show slows down is when Fitz and Olivia are together. Then it slows down.’ Everything else goes like a bat out of hell.” This is also because the show’s scripts were typically somewhere around 60-something pages, which needed to be filmed for a show that was around 43 minutes. “[Shonda] did a lot of rewriting in the cutting room, so she always overshot,” Goldwyn said. Washington added that “The faster we spoke, the smarter we sounded. Because we weren’t having to stop and think about things. We only stopped for feelings.”
They hid Washington’s pregnancy during lovemaking scenes
Yep, Washington and Goldwyn divulged secrets about their love scenes. Goldwyn brought up the “crazy love scene we did that was quite intimate with the camera going. [Kerry], you were pregnant.” She confirmed, “I was four months pregnant. So insane,” before revealing her bump was covered with suitcases and boxes while filming. Perhaps even more insane for some of the cinephiles reading: Ava DuVernay once directed an episode of Scandal (season three, episode eight). “Remember we were doing all those love scenes?” Washington recollects. “The camera’s in the full circle around us and coming off the helicopter and all that. But she couldn’t shoot me below the chest because I had this baby bump.”
Station 19’s Stefania Spampinato and Danielle Savre
Spampinato and Savre were shocked by the fan response
Carina and Maya’s romance always felt destined on Station 19 even when they inevitably hit some bumps in the road (Station 19 is a Shondaland show after all!). But while their coupling was always in the cards, they were shocked by the fan response. Savre said, “The first table read was the first day Stefania and I met each other. We knew this was going to be something that worked. I don’t think either one of us — I don’t want to speak for you, Stefania — could have ever known where this relationship on the show [would go]. From that moment, we knew it was something special.” Spampinato added, “It was great since day one, but there was no way to predict that. Then we started seeing the reaction of the fans. It wasn’t just our impression that this was good; people felt that way too.”
Their impact on Station 19 fans runs deep
Just like how Lady Gaga has become an icon for the LGBTQ+ community, so have Spampinato and Savre. In the show, Maya’s coming-out story is difficult — she has to come to terms with her father’s abuse and his homophobia — but for Savre, it has meant everything to learn how her trajectory on Station 19 has become an inspiration for fans. “Because of watching Maya coming out to her father, they were able to come out to their parents,” she said. “When I hear those [stories], it’s hard to not get emotional when someone tells me. I didn’t write the scenes. I just played Maya, so I was able to play a character that was written so well that resonated with so many people. They were going through a similar situation, and they had the courage to act on what they felt was their true self.”
A sweet moment between Maya and Carina
Shondaland shows have a rule: Actors must be word-perfect. That means no improvising, but Spampinato revealed a tender, off-script scene between the two: “There is a moment I recently rewatched because I was working on my reel. It’s the scene where Maya is coming in from work and Carina wants to practice for the green card interview. They end up lying down in bed, and they whisper, ‘Love you,’ to each other. That wasn’t scripted, but I thought it was so sweet and intimate. I was like, ‘Wow, look at these two actors being so comfortable with one another.’ I was proud of us.”
These two were on the same page when it came to acting
Savre revealed that she understood her character on a deep level. She said, “I’d been doing [acting] for so long as a kid that I always felt almost like Maya. I had to come with my [script] highlighted, and my things had to be checked.” But when Spampinato stepped in, she gave Savre the permission she needed to just relish the moment: “I learned from you to let go and enjoy the process. … You have this beautiful ability to come to set, and though you’re prepared and giving it your all, in between takes you’re able to let loose and enjoy it,” said Savre.
They both had visions of what could’ve been
Even after the finale, Spampinato and Savre both had hopes for what the future might’ve held for Maya and Carina. Savre said, “Maya, Vic, and Andy were these badass women, and I feel like we touched on it a lot, but never as much as I would have loved. We knew when we did those flash-forwards that Maya carried one of their children. It would have been nice to see how she was able to be pregnant and still be a firefighter. That’s something even real firefighters struggle with because how do you balance work and motherhood? I would have loved to have seen Maya balance that.” Spampinato had hoped that Carina would’ve gotten the chance to continue to explore female sexuality and perhaps create an obstacle or two for our beloved couple. “I would love to see her almost come full circle with that and teach sex education to younger adults. To still feel like [she’s] contributing to society in a different way, geared to young adults since she now has kids. Also, they say relationships after seven years go through a little struggle. I would have loved to see the seventh year of their relationship and see how they pulled through that,” she said.
