ABC/Craig Sjodin(NEW YORK) — What would Scandal have been like without the one-and-only Mellie Grant?
Speaking with ABC News during a Facebook Live broadcast, the actress revealed that, although her character has developed into one of the star’s most integral characters, she was originally only supposed to appear as a guest star on three episodes in the first season.
“[Show creator/producer] Shonda [Rhimes] wanted to write a presidential divorce, but somehow they just tucked into the deliciousness that became Mellie,” Young said. “She started wreaking havoc for everyone and they let me stay on.”
“To have gone through so many iterations of joy and grief and victimhood and heroism has been such a blessing and a surprise every day, and I’m so grateful for it,” she continued.
Young explained that she took her audition to the next level by dressing the part of her character.
“I wanted [Mellie] to look a certain way, and I never do this but I went shopping,” Young said. “I just had very specific visions.”
It worked. Young says she was “lucky enough to be the girl they picked” and started working the day after the audition.
Young also opened up about how she suffers from migraines, and that medication helped her get her life back.
“I’ve cost people days on production because you can’t negotiate with a migraine,” Young said, encouraging fans who also suffer from migraines to talk with their doctors and seek information.
“I just want people to be having conversations, and I want people to get to their doctors sooner rather than later and talk to him or her and see what’s right for you,” Young said. “Because you can get your get your life back and feel so liberated.”
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