Fall Preview: Kerry Washington Teases Scandal Season 2, Plus Pope's Associates Speak Out
COLUMBUS SHORT
Columbus Short
"Harrison"
ON HIS FAVORITE SEASON 1 SCENE | "It had to be when Cyrus had this huge monologue about what was going to happen to the president" if the Amanda Tanner scandal hit. "It was amazing. I love that scene." Running a close second was Harrison being sent by Olivia to let David know his favorite newsstand has been saved.
ON HARRISON'S MYSTERIOUS JAIL STINT | As gleaned by the dossier commissioned by Cyrus, Harrison was once in the clink. But why? "Shonda has confided in me, but I don't want to give anything away. But I think it's going to be cool."
ON HARRISON'S GREATEST WEAKNESS | "His inability to be vulnerable, because there's truth in vulnerability. But I think cracks are starting to happen with Olivia, the woman he admired and who brought him in."
ON THE QUINN QUESTION | "Harrison finds himself torn between his gut, his heart, his loyalty and the truth. There's something inside of him that doesn't believe what Olivia is saying, and that puts him in a precarious position," says Short. "And as an actor, that's so much to play with."
DARBY STANCHFIELD
Darby Stanchfield
"Abby"
ON A MISSING PERSON | Outside of Olivia, Abby is easily the one most affected by Stephen's absence (Henry Ian Cusick is not returning as a series regular). And while Stanchfield won't say where Stephen went, she concurs, "I think Abby had a really big crush on him, yeah. There were a couple of scenes, some moments and things that were written but left on the cutting room floor."
ON ABBY'S CLOSEST ALLY (WITH STEPHEN GONE) | "Abby feels she owes everything to Olivia, for helping her out of a really horrible situation in the past, so I know that Abby feels that they have this intimate connection. It's very work-based but it's very real."
ON ABBY'S GREATEST WEAKNESS | "She sees the world in a very black-and-white perspective, while crisis management is a very gray area. That's why, working for Olivia, she's always sort of prickly and judging."
ON THE QUINN QUESTION | Acknowledging that across the staff there is a "peppered reaction" to Quinn's true identity, Stanchfield says that Abby "is going to have a very specific" take on the sorta-solved mystery.
GUILLERMO DIAZ
Guillermo Diaz
"Huck"
ON HUCK'S GREATEST WEAKNESS | "Just that he will do whatever Olivia asks, without any questions."
ON HUCK'S CLOSEST ALLY | "I would say Quinn. I know that sounds odd, but he knows she's kind of like 'the new kid.'"
ON THE QUINN QUESTION | "Huck is so loyal to Olivia that he doesn't even care what the whole story is," says Diaz. "He just wants to do whatever she needs. He's not caught up in, 'I need to know who she is' and all that stuff. He like one of those old dogs that are just very loyal."
ON A CLOSING NOTE | Diaz says, "There's definitely a lot of flashback stuff" that casts a bit more light on Huck's shady past – including, TVLine can say, perhaps one of the young series' most stunning flashbacks to date.
KATIE LOWES
Katie Lowes
"Quinn"
ON QUINN'S CLOSEST ALLY | "I feel that it's Huck, because I think Huck and Quinn are not on the inside of the circle; they're the outsiders. Quinn is a step behind, while Huck is the all-knowing presence in the shadows. Remember in the pilot, when he was in the bathroom with her and said, "We're all stray dogs. Don't cry"? That relationship does exist."
ON QUINN'S GREATEST WEAKNESS | "Her greatness weakness is her greatest strength, which is that she's trustworthy. And she trusts people that she shouldn't trust."
ON THE QUINN QUESTION (AFTER ALL, SHE IS "QUINN") | "Who she is is settled right out of the gate, but that leads to more and more questions, which only the brilliant Shonda Rhimes can do," says Lowes. What's more, she (accurately) teases, "You then realize that that wasn't really the question ever to ask."
ON A CLOSING NOTE | "Quinn Perkins – there's a whole lot more going on than meets the eye!"