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What Bellamy Young Learned About the Power of Sisterhood from Shonda Rhimes


To celebrate International Women’s Day 2020, we asked women like Jackie Aina, Cecile Richards, Andrea Mitchell, Bellamy Young, and more to reflect on how other women have lifted them up—mentored them, advised them, represented them, and above all showed them what was possible. We’ll be sharing their stories here all week.

Unlike most people in the world, I have lived in a matriarchal society. I highly recommend it.

The women who lived there with me—we found our power, we found our voices and were encouraged to lift them up. And once we stepped into that light, we never turned around and said, “Oh, darkness, I missed that.” The experience changed us forever.

Let me explain: For a beautiful period of time, I had dual citizenship in two countries—the United States of America…and Shondaland.

In 2011, Shonda Rhimes cast me as Mellie Grant on Scandal. I knew that the role was a huge break, especially for a woman in her 40s. At that point, knowing what I knew about television and this business, I had just given up hope on certain kinds of opportunities. It had taken a toll on me. It’s like, “Well, I won’t be cast as that kind of character.” Or, “OK, I won’t get that kind of part.” As soon as someone posts your age online, you just know your options are narrowing.

With Scandal, I was going in to read for this tiny part. I had, I think, two lines. But Shonda Rhimes doesn’t write characters. She writes souls, and then over time, through casting, those souls reveal themselves to her. All of those details—gender, sexuality, race—come into clearer focus, which is how that small part became something so much bigger. I remember standing there, thinking how fortunate I was just to be in that room. But then I got in front of Shonda, and there’s something in how she sees you. It’s profound. It’s not overt and it’s not strange. It’s so safe and curious and accepting. She looks at you, and she doesn’t see your outfit or your hair. She sees who you are.

I got the part, obviously. And then I did seven episodes and became a series regular the next year. It was an acting job, of course. It was work. But it was also transformational for me, as a person. I got to be a different kind of woman. And I have said that to Shonda, too. I’ve told her: “I don’t know how you chose me, but I am grateful for Mellie. I am grateful that I got to be her. I am grateful that people got to know her.”

She’s a fictional character, but she—and Shonda—showed me something different was possible. When I was growing up in America in the 1980s, we were told, “You can have it all and you better pretend that it’s working.” There was no wiggle room. We weren’t supposed to show the cracks. It was a “succeed at any price, move forward, and leave everyone else in the dust” mindset. I think that’s starting to change.

But it’s still hard to be a woman in a position of power. There’s this sense that if we make one wrong move, we’re out. It wasn’t like that with Scandal or with Shonda, who taught us all to work and stretch and fall and stand and laugh and fail and sob and just be honest about what we were going through.

I hope that we passed a little of that on to the audience, to the women who saw Mellie Grant and Olivia Pope on screen and felt just a little braver in their own lives. These women were not perfect. So far from it. But when the time came, they knew how to stand up for themselves. They failed big time, but they stood their ground.



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Everything We Know About the New Shonda Rhimes Netflix Series, "Inventing Anna"


Ever since Shonda Rhimes announced her massive development deal with Netflix, we’ve anxiously awaited details on her new slate of shows. (Not to worry, Grey’s Anatomy fans, the medical drama is not going anywhere anytime soon.)

One show in particular piqued our interest: Inventing Anna. The limited series will tell the story of Anna Delvey (real name: Anna Sorokin), a woman in New York City who pretended to be a German heiress and scammed many members of the city’s elite party scene. “In Inventing Anna, a journalist with a lot to prove investigates the case of Anna Delvey, the Instagram-legendary German heiress who stole the hearts of New York’s social scene—and stole their money as well,” Netflix says in a show description per Hollywood Reporter. “But is Anna New York’s biggest con woman or is she simply the new portrait of the American dream? Anna and the reporter form a dark, funny, love-hate bond as Anna awaits trial and our reporter fights the clock to answer the biggest question in NYC: Who is Anna Delvey?” Sorokin is currently in jail after being convicted of attempted grand larceny, three grand larceny counts and a misdemeanor charge of theft of services.

Now that details about the cast and the plot are starting to emerge, here’s everything we know so far—aside from the fact that we can’t wait to binge this show in one sitting.

The creative team: This will be the first new show created by Rhimes since Scandal, and she’ll also do the writing. Betsy Beers, who works on all the Shondaland shows will serve as an executive producer, The Hollywood Reporter reports.

The source material: Much like the film Hustlers, Inventing Anna is based on a New York magazine article by journalist Jessica Pressler. “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People” was first published in May 2018 and attempted to unravel the tangled web of lies that the woman known as Anna Delvey told as she conned the high society set in New York out of money, hotel rooms and more in an effort to keep up her lavish lifestyle.

The cast: Netflix recently announced five major casting decisions for the show.

Julia Garner: Garner, who recently won an Emmy for her role on Ozark, will play Delvey. A press release from Netflix describes her as “a young woman in her mid-20s with a hard to place European accent who takes New York by storm. Either a brilliant businesswoman or a scammer extraordinaire, Anna in turn inspires loyalty, compassion, contempt, and obsession—all while leaving behind an emotional body count.”

Anna Chlumsky: The Veep alum will play Vivian, the reporter working on the story. Vivian is “working to salvage her career with just the right story. The Anna Delvey story is her golden ticket—she is willing to face any problem to get it. But as she works on the Anna story, there is one problem she never expected—Anna herself. The more Vivian pursues the truth about Anna, the more attached to Anna she becomes.”

Katie Lowes: The former Scandal star will play Rachel, “a natural born follower and her blind worship of Anna almost destroys her job, her credit and her life. But while her relationship with Anna is her greatest regret, the woman she becomes because of Anna may be Anna’s greatest creation.”

Laverne Cox: Cox is set to play Kacy Duke, “a celebrity trainer and life coach, Kacy gets sucked into the Anna whirlwind but is mature and centered enough to stay out of any real trouble. When she least expects it, in the wake of Anna’s crimes, Kacy finds herself becoming a coach to more than just Anna.”

Alexis Floyd: The actress, who you might remember as Tia on the most recent season of The Bold Type, will play Neff. Neff is “an aspiring filmmaker working as a hotel concierge, Neff knows New York and its people. Neff’s all style, all substance—more complex than most. She’s drawn in by Anna’s charm, but while passionate and loyal, she’s nobody’s fool.”

The air date: No release date has been announced as of yet.

This post will be updated as more details emerge.



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These Are the Eight Shows Shonda Rhimes Is Launching on Netflix


Last August, long-time ABC showrunner and producer Shonda Rhimes—the genius behind Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal—shocked her fans and the industry when she announced she was leaving the cable juggernaut behind to create a slew of new shows for Netflix. Eight shows, to be precise—and now we know the details behind each. On Friday, Rhimes, who signed a $300 million deal with the streaming powerhouse, finally revealed the titles and a few details of the shows she’s working on to the New York Times—and it sounds like these new projects will be quite different from what we’ve seen from her in the past.

“Everybody thinks that there’s a ‘Shondaland show,’” Rhimes told the Times about just how different these new shows might be. “No. There’s a Shondaland show that we made for ABC. Now I can’t wait to show everybody what a Shondaland show is that we make for the world.”

One of the shows that might be on the unexpected side for Shondaland was revealed back in June, when news broke that Shondaland and Netflix had acquired the rights to New York Magazine’s viral story of ultra-scammer Anna Delvey and will be adapting it into a television show.

“I knew exactly what the show was, which is a very clear indicator,” Ms. Rhimes told the New York Times after reading the Delvey story while on vacation in Arizona. She said she starting writing it “almost immediately.”

Below, a list of Rhimes’ seven other forthcoming projects—and everything we know about them so far.

An untitled Bridgerton project:

This series is inspired by author Julia Quinn’s collections of eight fiction novels set between 1813 and 1825. Each novel is from the perspective of one of the Bridgerton children that make up the powerful British family.

The Warmth of Other Suns:

This series is based on the 2010 Pulitzer Prize nonfiction winner, The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. The New York Times bestseller tells the story of three young Americans migrating from the South to the North during what’s now known as the United States’ Great Migration.

Pico & Sepulveda:

A series set in Mexican California at the start of the Gold Rush in the 1840s.

Reset:

Netflix and Shondaland have acquired the rights to Ellen Pao’s powerful memoir of the same name that recounts her time working in the boys club of Silicon Valley and the workplace discrimination lawsuit that ultimately ensued.

The Residence:

This series will be based on The Residence, a nonfiction book about the goings-on inside the White House from the perspective of staff like maids, butlers, cooks, florists, and doormen. Another Shondaland show set inside the White House? Count me in.

Sunshine Scouts:

Shondaland’s first-ever comedy to get greenlight follows a group of teenage girls trapped at the end of the world—during sleep-away camp.

Hot Chocolate Nutcracker:

A documentary about Debbie Allen Dance Academy’s take on the world-famous Nutcracker ballet.

There’s still no word on when these new Shondaland shows will be available to stream on Netflix, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted.

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Shonda Rhimes Wants to Ban the Phrase 'Strong Female Leads'—and She's Not Wrong


How often do you hear the phrase “strong male characters?” Probably not very much, but the entertainment industry is quick to point out whenever a “strong female woman” makes it on screen. And Shonda Rhimes is sick of it.

Yesterday afternoon, the producer and creator of some of the most beloved female-driven shows, such as “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” and “How To Get Away With Murder,” made the case that although using phrases like “strong female character” or “smart female lead” might be well-intentioned, these qualifiers are not just redundant and condescending.

“Okay,” she tweeted on Thursday. “Entertainment industry, time to stop using the phrases ‘Smart Strong Women’ and ‘Strong Female Leads’. There are no Dumb Weak Women. A smart strong woman is just a WOMAN. Also? ‘Women’ are not a TV trend — we’re half the planet.”

Her remarks started a conversation about how these descriptors are a disservice to women, because they imply that brainy, independent women are a rare sight that needs to be applauded or pointed out. As she explains, the industry should assume that women are already strong and smart, the way they generally do with male characters. Twitter users noted that these terms can also be limiting, since being constantly painted as strong doesn’t always leave much room for complexity or nuance, which is often celebrated in brooding, tortured male characters like the Don Drapers and Walter Whites of the TV world.

A few hours after Rhimes initiated the discussion, Oscar-winning actress Jessica Chastain chimed in to say, “Yes to this. I’m always told I play ‘strong women.’ Lets pleasw use the phrase ‘well written women’ in its place ALL WOMEN ARE STRONG WOMEN.”

It’s not the first time Rhimes has spoken up about how the industry characterizes female characters. As part of an interview series for Time back in 2017, Rhimes said, “Every time someone says, ‘How do you write such smart, strong women?’ I find it appalling because it suggests that there are stupid, weak women and that’s who is generally out there.”





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Shonda Rhimes and Ellen Pompeo Have a Pact About When They'll End 'Grey's Anatomy'


Grey’s Anatomy has been on the air for approximately 9 bazillion years. OK, that’s an exaggeration: It’s actually only been on for 12, but it feels like way more. And for good reason: The show has ripped through dozens of doctors, hundreds of over-the-top storylines, and thousands of steamy kissing scenes. One of the M.D.s was literally nicknamed “McSteamy,” people. What were you expecting?

Grey’s Anatomy‘s constantly-moving parts make it pretty confusing to follow, but there’s one constant that keeps fans comforted: Dr. Meredith Grey, the narrator of the series, played by Ellen Pompeo. She’s the thread that weaves each bonkers season of Grey’s Anatomy together. Without her, there’d be little narrative direction: Each episode would just be 42 minutes of random doctors sometimes doing their jobs but mostly boning. Meredith is an indispensable component.

And Rhimes will continue making Grey’s Anatomy so long as Pompeo wants to do it. That’s the only thing needed to keep the show going, according to her. When Pompeo wants to exit, that’s when Rhimes says she’ll end Grey’s Anatomy.

“Ellen and I have a pact that I’m going to do the show as long as she’s going to do the show,” Rhimes told E! News. “So the show will exist as long as both of us want to do it. If she wants to stop, we’re stopping. So I don’t know if we’ll see 600 [episodes], but I want to keep it feeling fresh. As long as there are fresh stories to tell and as long as we’re both excited about the stories being told, we’re in. So, we’ll see where that takes us.”

This makes sense, to be honest—and it’s sort of a given. I mean, Meredith Grey’s name is in the title of the show. It’d be ludicrous to produce it without her. The show would just be called….Anatomy…and that sounds ick.

Related Stories:

Shonda Rhimes Launched a Shondaland Website So Every Day Can Be TGIT

Shonda Rhimes on How She Became Her Own Beauty Standard



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Shonda Rhimes on How She Became Her Own Beauty Standard


PHOTO: Robert Trachtenberg / trunkarchi

Her name is synonymous with addictive television. As a producer, she rules an entire night (TGIT) on ABC with her female-led, diverse casts on Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away With Murder, yet somehow still has time to write a best-selling book (Year of Yes) and partner with Dove’s Real Beauty Productions as creative director. Here, Shonda Rhimes spills her secrets.

My DGAF attitude: My sisters and I were actually sitting around the other day, talking about the fact that we grew up in a weird way: not caring what anybody else thinks. This sounds crazy, but we’re not concerned by other people’s thoughts about how we should look or be or think. I think about how to impart that to my three girls. I want to make sure they know who they are, not some reflection of what they think beauty is.

My “I look fantastic” headspace: I think once you’re there, you’re there. For me, it was also saying to myself, “Look at all these women you know—you think they’re beautiful and interesting and fantastic and fabulous. Why don’t you compliment yourself the same way?” I don’t necessarily look at anybody and think, This is my beauty standard, because my beauty standard is now me.

My confidence boosters (which will be very familiar to Grey’s fans): I’m very music-oriented, and so for me it’s playing a lot of music very loud—and dancing. I firmly believe I can dance anything out. But I’m also very big on long, long, long showers. You can shower anything out too.

My can’t-live-without-it beauty ritual: I’m a mask-oholic. I do a mask every single day, all different kinds. Farmacy has a really good one.

My makeup extremes: I do not wear makeup every day, except if I’m being filmed, in which case I wear a very thick layer of it.

My early TV influences: We didn’t watch a lot of television growing up, but I remembered when Lisa Bonet and the women on A Different World showed up. There were very few examples of women who looked like me. And I don’t particularly mean [only] women of color but women who looked like actual women, who had hips and ­bodies.

My hope for the evolution of beauty ideals: Dove showed me a study where 69 percent of women said they don’t see themselves reflected on television and in advertisements, in movies or anything. That idea of being erased—where there’s somebody out there who’s being defined as the girl, the woman, the smart person, the hot chick, and none of them are you—is still so damaging to me…. We put out a call on social media asking women and girls for their definition of beauty. We got thousands of submissions, and we’ve done three videos so far. One was with a woman, Kylee, who’s from a conservative town. Her mother, a hairdresser, raised her in this very feminine, girly way; she just never felt like herself. So she cut her hair short and opened a barbershop. She created what she feels is a safe place in Salt Lake City, where she cuts hair for women and men, and they can define their own notion of what beauty is. Working on stories like this, it felt like another way to really reach women, and allow young girls to have a way to see themselves.



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