Kerry Washington Reveals the 'Relationship' She Already Had withScandalCostar Tony Goldwyn Before They Starred on Show Together

Mar. 15, 2025

Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn attend an evening with EZRA: A storytelling and screening event of Bleecker Street’s “EZRA” at Writers Guild Theater on May 21, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.Photo:Victoria Sirakova/Getty

Victoria Sirakova/Getty

As she reflected on her involvement in politics before landing the role as Washington D.C.’s fixer, Washington, 47, said, “When I met Tony Goldwyn, who played the president inScandal, he and I used to advocate on Capitol Hill for arts funding.”

“We used to, like, walk around D.C. talking to senators and congressmen about maintaining funding for the arts in public schools and in museums,” she said on the Dec. 17 episode of the podcast. “So we had, like, a D.C. relationship beforeScandaleven started.”

Tony Goldwyn and Kerry Washington in ‘Scandal’.Danny Feld/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Danny Feld/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Describing herself as “very political” even beforeScandal, Washington said, “It was one of the reasons why, when I read the pilot episode ofScandal, I was like, ‘Oh my god. This has been written for me.’ Now there were also, like, 35 black actresses in Hollywood who all felt the same way…I feel really, really blessed and lucky that I got to be her.”

Washington’s revelation about how far back she goes with Goldwyn, 64, is particularly interesting consideringshe told PEOPLE in June that she “never did a chemistry read” with himahead of them being cast as love interests. Instead, she said the chemistry was always there between them — which makes sense, given their “D.C. relationship,” as she described it toKeke Palmer.

Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn in ‘Scandal’.Mitch Haaseth/Walt Disney Television via Getty

Mitch Haaseth/Walt Disney Television via Getty

The pair’s casting also had to do with Goldwyn’s history with another major player in theScandalworld: Rhimes, herself.

“I had met Shonda several years before, when I directed one of the first episodes ofGrey’s Anatomyand worked for her for a couple of years on that, and then I didn’t see her for eight years and suddenly she thought, ‘Wow, Tony’d be an interesting choice for Fitz.’ And ‘Tony, you want to play the president on my new show?'” Goldwyn previously told PEOPLE of the unusual way he landed the role onScandal. “Wow. ‘Okay, sure. Why not?’ So it’s funny how things come around.”

“It’s funny the way life works,” he added. “In my now-pretty-long career, I’ve learned to sort of just trust the flow of the way things happen.”

Kerry Washington and actor Tony Goldwyn speak on the fourth and last day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 22, 2024.MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty

MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty

The former costars’ passion for politics was on display this year as they both were heavily involved inKamala Harris' presidential campaign. At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August,Goldwyn surprised crowds as he joined Washington on stage, and they continued to delight fans as they shared several photos from their time together in Chicago on social media.

“Giving the people what they want,” Washington wrote in aposton X (formerly known as Twitter) as she shared a selfie with Goldwyn and a silly photo with him. She even tagged the post #Olitz, which is the ship name for theirScandalcharacters, Olivia and Fitz.

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Scandalcan be streamed in full on Hulu.

source: people.com