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Shonda Rhimes Talks About her New Series 'Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story' on Netflix
May 8, 2023
Shonda Rhimes has been the face of television for nearly two decades and her latest show, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, streaming on Netflix, has once again proven why her name holds such immense power in the industry. Rhimes has been successful in creating, writing, and producing some of the most iconic shows which have changed the landscape of television. In this blog, we'll explore the genius of Shonda Rhimes and how she is revolutionizing the TV industry one show at a time.
Shonda Rhimes has been a trailblazer in the world of television since the premiere of Grey's Anatomy in 2005. Her storytelling ability, coupled with her business acumen, has led her to create some of the most popular and diverse shows on TV. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is the latest addition to this list. The six-episode series explores the origin story of Queen Charlotte, a character from the original Bridgerton series, and the first Black queen of England. The show is a powerful example of Rhimes' vision and storytelling ability, bringing a mix of history and fantasy to our screens.
Another hallmark of Rhimes' shows is the diversity of her characters. In an industry that often falls short on representation, Rhimes' shows feature characters from various backgrounds, which is what makes them so accessible. From ABC's hit show, How To Get Away With Murder to Grey's Anatomy, Rhimes ensures that everyone in the audience sees a little bit of themselves on the screen.
Rhimes is also becoming a champion of the streaming age. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is a Netflix original series, and the latest of many shows produced by Shondaland for various platforms. The streaming age has allowed creators to explore their passion projects more freely and more creatively, and Rhimes has taken full advantage of this. She is now entering a new era with her first series on Netflix, and it looks like she's going to be a prominent force in this new world of serialized television.
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
I can't tell you how excited I am all
0:02
new episodes are going to be available
0:04
today
0:05
that's from the series Queen Charlotte
0:07
of Bridgeton story
0:09
Heather B I've been hooked on this story
0:11
for the past two seasons yeah I see
0:14
myself in that time period
0:18
just being
0:20
riding around the countryside okay you
0:22
know choosing women of my choice because
0:25
of my Royal bloodline oh God I can see
0:29
myself in there
0:31
um today we are honored to have the
0:33
writer the created executive producer of
0:35
this series but not only that I mean if
0:37
you're a fan of Gray's Anatomy Round of
0:39
Applause as I name these series I'm off
0:42
the map Private Practice these are all
0:44
series that I was hooked on naturally
0:46
that really challenged my intellect and
0:49
kept me interested oh yeah for a long
0:51
period of time Scandal come on Round of
0:54
Applause for that we've had every Star
0:55
of Scandal on this show every principal
0:58
every principal star Scandal has been on
1:01
this show um How to Get Away with Murder
1:02
we had him on here too Viola's been here
1:05
a couple times let him know she knows
1:07
it's my first name for the people of
1:10
station 19 inventing Anna that's one of
1:13
your favorites oh my gosh we unpacked
1:15
the hell of that on air
1:17
okay and Bridgeton is one of my
1:19
favorites we have screenwriter the
1:21
producer the author herself the one and
1:24
only Shonda Rhimes is joining us this
1:26
morning
1:29
[Applause]
1:29
[Music]
1:32
yes happy to have you Shonda how do you
1:34
even find time to be here with us this
1:36
morning I don't even know how you do it
1:37
oh I wanted to come here yeah this is a
1:39
specific one yeah okay great I'm glad to
1:42
have you glad to have you
1:44
um it's um it's good to have the series
1:46
back I'll be remiss if I didn't ask you
1:48
about what's going on in Hollywood right
1:50
now because when I think about uh who
1:52
you are and what you do as an executive
1:54
producer when I think about Shonda land
1:56
but also as a writer what you've been
1:58
able to do we have this Rider strike
2:00
that's happening and then for you you're
2:02
on both sides of the coin kind of right
2:04
or I consider myself a writer or a
2:06
writer driven company you know I'm
2:08
telling my team not to cross the picket
2:10
line it's not great that we have to
2:12
strike but if we have to strike to get
2:14
other writers a livable wage then we
2:16
should be striking so okay with it so
2:18
you're striking right now you're on
2:19
strike right now I am on strike right
2:21
now Shonda Rhimes is rocking for the
2:24
people with the people
2:26
what are the writers asking for it's
2:28
just more pay for streaming services or
2:31
what exactly well you know the pay's
2:33
been like the pay that they get for
2:34
streaming services is turns out to be
2:36
less than the pay you get on network
2:38
television because you're making less
2:39
episodes you have to go from job to job
2:41
sometimes they hire you for just four
2:43
weeks to come in and like sit in a room
2:44
it's not like on network television
2:46
where you were employed for the year you
2:49
know so it's just a different thing and
2:50
so people really aren't making livable
2:52
wage anymore and the streaming system
2:55
has to sort of Bend and accommodate that
2:57
and figure it out okay I'm for the
2:59
Riders all right absolutely we're
3:01
rocking for the Riders no stories
3:03
without writers you you wrote a book uh
3:05
speaking that you're speaking of being a
3:06
writer year of yes
3:08
um how to dance it out stand in the Sun
3:11
and be your own person and I'm curious
3:14
and that was back in 2015 I want to say
3:16
2015 and um I got a chance to read
3:18
through uh that book but someone else
3:20
brought it to my attention last night
3:22
and I was talking to someone about you
3:24
and we we came to this question
3:27
um how do you use or how are you saying
3:31
yes today and how has saying yes
3:34
impacted your life
3:36
first of all saying yes in general when
3:38
I started that project because I spent a
3:40
year saying yes to everything right
3:42
um it changed me entirely I stopped
3:45
being as shy as I was I was very afraid
3:47
to be in public I was I was not sort of
3:50
conscious of my body like all these
3:51
things that weren't happening because I
3:54
was just stuck in a rut of saying no to
3:56
everything so I started saying yes and
3:58
really it was a transformative year and
4:01
now I don't say yes to a lot of things
4:04
now but I'm saying yes to this you know
4:06
I'm saying yes to being in the city
4:08
which I love which is a lot it's very
4:10
different I've just changed my life wow
4:13
uh you you've done a lot of
4:14
transformation even with your physical
4:16
body over the years too uh can you talk
4:19
about that process how did you come how
4:21
did you get there and how has it been
4:22
since well part of Europe yes was me
4:25
sort of discovering how uncomfortable I
4:27
was I you know it's one thing that
4:29
people don't talk about or think about
4:30
but it's exhausting carrying that much
4:33
weight around it really is and I don't
4:34
even think I realized how exhausting it
4:36
was so making the choice to sort of try
4:39
and change that and you know I'm for
4:40
everybody having the body they want but
4:42
I was uncomfortable so making the choice
4:44
to change that was a big deal in my life
4:47
it was really hard I'm always going to
4:48
want to eat fried chicken that's not
4:49
going to change I'm not that person so
4:53
for me it was about figuring out how
4:55
many times I could eat the fried chicken
4:56
and things like that and it's been
4:58
really freeing I'm I'm playing tennis
5:00
now I'm like you know I'm doing a lot
5:01
more orthotic things okay because I
5:03
asked this question because Heather and
5:05
I uh we're doing something called a
5:06
Netflix challenge right now and for the
5:09
next six weeks uh we're doing it with Dr
5:11
Ian Smith and and after the end of six
5:13
weeks whoever lost the most what is the
5:15
lowest low the most percentage not
5:17
pounds of body weight uh weighs 250 750.
5:24
about my business first y'all
5:29
any any tips you want to give us because
5:31
it's been difficult I just had two bags
5:33
of chips
5:36
little Kalani got him oh he's gonna
5:39
blame it inside quit your year yes
5:42
he asked I said yes you know you gotta
5:45
drink as much water as possible all day
5:47
long yeah it will save you okay because
5:49
most of the time when you think you're
5:50
hungry you're really thirsty
5:52
um that's my tip damn that's game right
5:55
there okay hydration's your friend
5:56
Shonda Rhimes is here um Shonda land is
6:00
um an incredible concept right was it
6:03
always a dream of yours to create Shonda
6:05
land or when did it come to fruition you
6:07
know I used to sort of walk around
6:08
saying I want to take over the world
6:09
through television and it was a joke at
6:12
first and at some point it started to
6:13
feel
6:14
like I you know if I work really hard
6:16
something's going to happen and when
6:17
I've got a chance to have a company to
6:19
call it shondaland I mean was working at
6:21
Disney so they have Disneyland I was
6:23
like well this is going to be chandeland
6:24
very specifically like our brand and I
6:27
don't think I ever expected it to get to
6:28
where it is right now what was the first
6:30
project that you did was under
6:32
chandelier no Gray's Anatomy was my
6:34
first that was the first time okay wow
6:36
grazing that damn amazing she hit a
6:38
Homer from out the box
6:40
Shonda thank you so much for being here
6:43
I'm so excited to meet you
6:45
um I don't think you well maybe you do
6:47
know
6:48
um for someone like me I I did not have
6:52
an example of what I wanted to do until
6:54
I actually saw you
6:57
um I I'm very familiar with Deborah
6:59
Munch I'm familiar with women who
7:01
produce shows and EP and show Runners
7:03
behind the scenes but it was when I saw
7:06
you I was like that's it it's possible
7:10
it's it's very possible I um I always
7:13
had a lot of idea is I love television
7:16
and when I saw you and I watched you
7:19
speak I watched how you carried yourself
7:21
not knowing you know what you just
7:24
shared with us about weight that wasn't
7:25
even a thing for me for me it was more
7:27
like she looks like family she looks
7:30
like you know our village and so I I'm
7:33
just so psyched to meet you today and
7:36
I'm so thankful that you're here when
7:37
you walked in I went to hug you and you
7:40
said oh wow I was like well was it not
7:42
supposed to hug her but it was just out
7:44
of love like just thank you so much for
7:46
everything thank you and I was happy to
7:48
hug you I always I was excited by who
7:50
you are I was like I'm actually sitting
7:52
here oh you should know how to be yes oh
7:54
man you're about to get a party tonight
7:59
who just made my day no seriously I was
8:02
excited I was like oh my God she was
8:03
sitting right there that was well that's
8:05
I'm like she's standing right here I
8:07
gotta hug him it wasn't like I just
8:08
couldn't hide wasn't enough for you it's
8:11
just not enough thank you for everything
8:13
oh I appreciate that so much that's
8:15
amazing I bear everything that Heather
8:18
just said and I also what comes to mind
8:20
Shonda is many different leaders in
8:25
Hollywood who are black right most of
8:27
the time they're known for creating very
8:29
blackity black projects yeah and I was
8:34
thinking about how we've been seeing
8:35
some of our leading ladies and men in
8:38
front of the camera such as a Nia Long
8:39
say I don't want to be looked at as just
8:41
a black actor or just be doing a genre
8:44
of black film I'm an actress I'm a
8:47
thespian who happens to be black I'm
8:48
still multi-dimensional and for so many
8:51
of your projects Shonda like you've had
8:53
these multi-layered characters who
8:56
happen to be black but at the same time
8:58
you don't shy away from race but it
9:01
isn't always Central to the story that
9:04
you're telling has that been on purpose
9:06
that's definitely been on purpose you
9:08
know if you notice in a show if it's uh
9:11
sort of a mainstream show and there's
9:14
one person of color that's all their
9:16
storyline is allowed to be yeah like
9:17
they talk about being black and how it
9:19
feels like that's all they get to be
9:20
they don't get to be anything else and
9:22
so on shows in which it has an all black
9:25
cast sometimes that's also the subject
9:26
you know but I think that that has
9:28
allowed for so many years people to have
9:30
more multi-dimensional roles and
9:32
characters and spaces to work for me I
9:34
really wanted to be able to tell the
9:36
story I wanted to tell I wanted the
9:37
world to look like the world I knew
9:39
around me and I wasn't interested in
9:42
doing anything where I couldn't see
9:43
myself or I couldn't reflect somebody
9:45
else
9:50
she says period without saying
9:54
oh my god
9:57
um Bridgeton gives me that same Vibe too
9:59
you know that's what I love about it you
10:01
see it you see Royals of all Hues in
10:05
that and I'm curious to when you pitched
10:07
the idea of Bridgeton did how did you
10:10
pitch it was it about that having these
10:12
um the historical fiction mixed with the
10:15
now Day themes and the Royals just
10:18
didn't have any particular you
10:21
you know I I don't pitch anymore so I'm
10:23
in like a great space
10:33
how can we how can we populate this
10:36
world in a way that feels true and very
10:39
conscious like it's not that people call
10:41
it colorblind casting we don't do
10:42
colorblind casting we do color conscious
10:43
casting okay so I wanted to find a way
10:45
to really do that and really the idea of
10:47
starting with the queen came from you
10:49
know there's rumors that Queen Charlotte
10:51
was of uh Moorish descent and I was like
10:54
let's take that and run with it and then
10:55
we can build the world however we want I
10:57
love it and you got um Golda russiaville
11:00
gold or Rochelle yes
11:02
give her
11:08
I get nervous looking at her on the
11:10
screen she's a wonderful person but she
11:12
is an actress when she puts that corset
11:15
on she is a whole other person how often
11:17
Shonda when you're writing do you
11:19
already have your actors in mind versus
11:22
like okay let's throw out a casting call
11:24
for anyone you know I like to work and
11:26
I've learned this over the years I like
11:28
to work with newer people
11:30
um because it's exciting to give
11:32
somebody an opportunity but it's also a
11:34
way to sort of have them come in to a
11:36
place that's already established and be
11:37
taken care of so for me I don't usually
11:41
ever have an actor in mind I really just
11:43
write the parts and then what's exciting
11:44
to me is actors come in and to me that
11:47
adds to the part I'll see like India who
11:49
plays young Queen Charlotte do something
11:51
and I'll think oh she's amazing she
11:53
carries this and that sort of gets added
11:55
into what I'm writing wow how did you
11:57
know for a scandal that Carrie
12:00
Washington would be Olivia Pope oh wow
12:03
we that was a hard one because it was
12:05
the first black female leading a drama
12:07
in 37 years which I hadn't known but 37
12:11
years and so I really felt like this is
12:14
a real chance for people so any actress
12:17
of color of note who wanted to come in
12:18
we had them in and it was a it was like
12:21
a murderous row of amazing amazing
12:23
actresses and so that was really hard to
12:26
see to think like all of these women
12:27
should be given this chance they were
12:29
all leading ladies but Carrie came in
12:31
and first of all she came in talking
12:32
politics like nobody I'd ever known
12:34
was she a character or she was just
12:37
talking politics she's talking politics
12:39
and so we had this long conversation
12:40
about politics she's an amazing actor we
12:42
knew she was an amazing actor I um
12:45
really took some time and you know
12:46
because you want to be careful about
12:48
these things but she's perfect and we
12:50
had we just clicked right away
12:52
we've had Viola Davis here too
12:56
um who played annalize Keaton in How to
12:58
Get Away with Murder uh that she had to
13:02
audition for that no that's my holiday
13:04
right that's different that's like lady
13:07
okay that's like you having the pitch
13:10
you know what I mean yeah
13:13
what happened there was we got on the
13:16
phone and begged I'm not kidding I was
13:18
like what do you need to do this like
13:19
how can we make this work for you yeah
13:21
yeah so wait if you don't mind I want to
13:23
jump in because we were talking about
13:24
supporting women right now and I am a
13:25
part of the Critics Choice Association
13:27
you better throw that title out there DB
13:29
yesterday I got this email that says
13:31
Queen Charlotte a Bridgeton story earns
13:33
the Critics Choice Association seal of
13:35
female empowerment and entertainment so
13:36
I wanted to tell you that and I also
13:38
wanted to ask about um the Bechtel test
13:40
because some people may have not heard
13:42
of it what it means is um the Bechtle
13:43
test was named after Allison Bechtel who
13:45
was the cartoonist and what it means is
13:46
two women in the scene have to talk
13:48
about something other than a man and
13:49
sometimes it requires that the women be
13:51
named
13:52
with something like that in place that
13:54
most people don't know about it's like
13:56
it's a requirement or or whatever but
13:57
it's like you you still have these
13:59
issues and challenges with getting women
14:01
in representation so what how do we get
14:03
over that hurdle you know I I'm always
14:06
amazed that every story sort of
14:08
surrounds a man and that you have to
14:10
tell stories and when the women are
14:12
alone it's usually male writers you know
14:13
no offense to anybody here but when you
14:15
get to women alone suddenly all they're
14:17
talking about is the man right that's
14:18
very we don't talk and sit around just
14:21
talking about men that's not our thing I
14:22
mean sometimes we do but most times no
14:24
we have other business to attend to
14:25
learn so yeah for me it's really getting
14:27
more female writers out there too all
14:30
right I won't even ask the next question
14:34
you know going back to um Scandal and
14:37
reflecting on that time my gosh that was
14:39
I think the first show where Twitter
14:41
came as a family to watch it together
14:44
and it was so electric online and now I
14:48
wonder like how much of these kind of um
14:52
folks who will go on Twitter and be like
14:54
I wish that this could be the way a
14:57
scene ends or the story could go in this
14:59
direction like how much do you use
15:01
Twitter any form of social media as kind
15:03
of a brainstorm for how to develop
15:05
episodes I don't okay and I had to
15:08
figure that out early on because we'd
15:10
have people who even in the beginning
15:12
was emails and letters saying like I'm
15:14
never gonna watch Gray's Anatomy again
15:15
because this this thing happened and
15:17
then next week they'd be like I'm still
15:18
never gonna watch it again
15:21
but what was important about that was
15:23
like my duty my only job and I think
15:25
about this a lot is to be The Keeper of
15:27
the story so it doesn't matter what's
15:29
happening in the outside world it
15:30
doesn't matter what everybody else is
15:31
thinking it doesn't even matter what's
15:33
going on with the actor sometimes I have
15:35
to stay true to the story I have to find
15:37
a way to stay true to the story do you
15:39
know the whole story from the moment
15:41
that you concept it no no okay I knew
15:44
the first season of Scandal when we we
15:46
started I knew what that was going to be
15:47
like but I mean we ended that first
15:49
season saying you know who is Quinn
15:51
Perkins and I didn't even know who Quinn
15:53
Perkins was so you learned that stuff
15:55
wow this is interesting yeah I saw you
15:57
once um when you got inducted to into
16:00
the television Hall of Fame right and uh
16:02
congratulations it's not right there and
16:05
Oprah Winfrey yeah is the one who
16:08
inducted you and you said that's the
16:10
moment you felt like okay I made it
16:13
right yep okay so what was the moment
16:16
you when you look back when you reflect
16:18
back what do you think prior to Gray's
16:20
Anatomy what was your first Big Break
16:21
what'd you say oh I got a job working on
16:25
introducing Dorothy Dandridge as a
16:28
writer and that was my first real job
16:31
I'd been pitching I'd been trying and so
16:33
I got to write that and then Halle Berry
16:34
went and Emmy which was amazing to me it
16:36
was a great experience
16:38
uh you work with Denzel's company at one
16:40
point I was an intern at um Denzel
16:43
Washington's company and worked with
16:44
Deborah Martin Chase yeah okay Denzel
16:46
didn't walk in the room ever no
16:50
how much television did you actually
16:52
grow up watching I was late today for
16:54
work Shonda and so just so happened God
16:56
is so good because as I turned the
16:58
corner Henry Winkler
17:00
and so he escorted me in today to
17:03
distract the fact that I was late and
17:05
but it was a moment for me too that I
17:07
was just like this is the fast this is
17:09
so cool but that memory immediately came
17:12
to me and we had a whole discussion this
17:14
morning about television and growing up
17:16
watching the Happy Days did you watch a
17:19
lot of Television to make you want to do
17:21
television you know what's crazy is I
17:22
didn't my parents are bless their hearts
17:25
big old nerds and so there was a lot of
17:28
like playing chess in my house and
17:29
reading books quietly in my house but
17:31
there was not a lot of Television I mean
17:33
we did we watched Good Times I remember
17:35
that of course that was serious and that
17:38
was exciting to me I was like oh look at
17:40
these people but then for a while there
17:42
was not a lot of Television going on and
17:44
then I got reached high school and I
17:45
started to try to you know watch some
17:46
things on my own and I started watching
17:48
you know like a little HBO Whoopi
17:50
Goldberg was on Broadway doing that play
17:52
but it wasn't until I had a baby I
17:55
became a mom that you know when you have
17:57
a baby you can't go anywhere right I
17:58
discovered so you don't get to go
18:01
nowhere so I spent a lot of days laying
18:04
on my sofa with my baby on my chest like
18:06
watching TV and it was amazing to me
18:09
because it was very different by then I
18:11
was like this is where all the character
18:12
development is happening movies were
18:14
great but you had to transform them in
18:16
you know an hour and 45 minutes and that
18:18
was it and then you could never you
18:19
never really talk to them again for me
18:20
it was exciting that I could spend you
18:22
know 24 episodes with Meredith and
18:24
Christina and like build a whole world
18:26
for them wow that's beautiful Shonda
18:28
Rhimes let's see I'm gonna take some
18:30
phone calls
18:31
888-742-3345 six new episodes of Queen
18:34
Charlotte of Bridgeton story is today so
18:37
you don't know the ending yet but what
18:40
what can you tell us I was mentioning it
18:42
off Mike that I love the the musical
18:44
component of this series because it's a
18:47
period piece but you might hear you you
18:50
know music that's today oh yeah replayed
18:52
how do y'all select what songs to play
18:54
towards with scenes
18:56
very purposely I wanted us to use music
18:59
of all the black Divas like I wanted us
19:02
to find that for Queen Charlotte
19:03
specifically okay so you know the first
19:06
episode we use Beyonce's Halo and it's
19:08
done in a classical form and it's really
19:10
beautiful Alicia Keys came to us and
19:13
reimagined her song If I Ain't Got You
19:15
with it and did it with an orchestra of
19:18
70 women of color okay it was amazing
19:20
from all over the world wow yeah and it
19:22
was really moving for them too because
19:24
they had all been used to being the only
19:25
person you know wow so Alicia came and
19:29
they were tearful and it was amazing and
19:31
she rearranged the new arrangement of
19:33
the music I'm not a musician so I don't
19:34
know if I'm saying it wrong and it was
19:36
gorgeous like it's amazing and that's in
19:39
the show that's in the show what about
19:40
the storyline what can you tell us oh
19:43
without giving up too much so Queen
19:46
Charlotte is
19:48
um 17 years old when her brother signs
19:51
her off to marry the king of England and
19:54
she's in a country where she know she
19:55
was a princess herself so she's like
19:57
what's happening to me and then she gets
19:59
there and realizes that she doesn't look
20:01
like anybody else you know there's that
20:03
moment and it's really about her coming
20:05
to terms with who she is stepping into
20:08
being a queen and her rise to power like
20:11
her real understanding that her power
20:12
means something and it's also a love
20:14
story with lots of sex but it's good it
20:17
doesn't hurt a lot of naked naked people
20:19
laughs
20:21
so I'm not ready for the roll yeah
20:23
you're thinking about me give me some
20:26
time
20:30
belly line I'm gonna do this
20:37
Shonda Rhymes and said
20:40
888-742-3345 Kate Ford is on the line
20:42
from Texas hey
20:44
[Applause]
20:50
he went to the Hall of Fame I'm a super
20:53
citizen but thank you brother I
20:54
appreciate it that's a compliment thank
20:56
you you have a question for Shonda yes
20:58
uh I'm trying to find a a writer to help
21:00
me write a script my aunt was a
21:02
well-known cowboy and I'm trying to
21:04
write a script and a documentary I'm
21:07
having trouble I'm back Trucking you
21:08
know I just got out my divorce I'm back
21:09
Trucking I'm trying to see where can I
21:11
go to find a good editor or a script
21:14
writer okay oh how do you do that
21:17
that's hard what I love is that there's
21:19
Talent everywhere and there are all
21:21
these people who have been undiscovered
21:23
and unrecognized and haven't yet had
21:25
their chance so I mean you can find like
21:28
there are groups online of writers there
21:30
are in Austin especially there's a
21:33
community of creative people that you
21:35
can sort of
21:36
entertain and go go and see how they can
21:38
do but honestly I feel like
21:40
opportunities are everywhere
21:42
opportunities are everywhere K4
21:44
congratulations to you man all right
21:46
you're a citizen bro Sway in the Morning
21:48
got that from Shonda Rhimes she doesn't
21:50
pitch
21:53
what's up good morning good morning good
21:56
morning everyone
22:00
hi can you hear me yes
22:02
okay perfect so good morning everyone
22:04
Shonda so I just wanted to ask you a
22:07
question and uh Swayze kind of took my
22:10
question so I'll just rephrase it
22:11
differently
22:12
so you mentioned in the Scandal rewatch
22:15
podcast that your top three choices to
22:17
play Olivia Carol and Pope was Kerry
22:20
Washington and nikononi Rose and Jill
22:22
Scott so I'm wondering knowing that the
22:24
chemistry between Carrie and Tony was
22:26
undeniable do you think that the
22:29
chemistry would have been as palpable or
22:32
believable if Anika or Jill was Olivia
22:34
Pope that's a really good question
22:37
they're both amazing actresses but what
22:40
happens for me when I cast somebody is
22:42
and I think I said a little bit about
22:43
this before I cast somebody and that
22:45
adds or changes what I'm writing in a
22:47
script you know the show would have been
22:49
very clearly three different shows with
22:51
each one of those actresses and I was
22:53
excited about all the versions Carrie
22:55
and Tony's chemistry is I mean you don't
22:59
ever see that that doesn't happen so for
23:01
me that was like lightning in a bottle
23:03
you don't get that kind of chemistry
23:04
going on from their very first moment
23:06
filming together great question Leah all
23:08
right you're a citizen okay in the
23:10
morning we got Anthony uh hold on one
23:12
second now we're going to go at Mike in
23:14
North Carolina Mike go for it Mike Mike
23:16
hey congratulations success thank you
23:20
hey uh
23:22
I'm filming a a real it's like a reality
23:25
series Home Improvement something that's
23:27
never really been done before and my
23:29
question is to you how do I get it on
23:33
how do I get it like to the film
23:34
festivals where the people can see it
23:36
because it's different it's Home
23:38
Improvement black dude running the
23:40
company over a lot of white people so
23:42
that's the difference all right all
23:44
right all right sounds like a winner to
23:46
me first of all congratulations to you
23:50
but second honestly you go to TV
23:53
festivals you look at TV festivals and
23:55
see what there are the very specific TV
23:56
festivals everywhere I don't know a lot
23:58
about unscripted programming but I do
24:00
know that like that's the space to get
24:02
into it and that there's a lot of
24:03
filming possibilities in the South you
24:06
know that's a real hotbed of where
24:08
they're filming a lot of reality
24:09
television Shonda Rhymes y'all uh give
24:11
it a big round of applause
24:13
this a movie called I'm going to say
24:16
Chevrolet are you familiar with it
24:19
um
24:20
it reminds me of what you've done with
24:22
Queen Charlotte I feel like uh well
24:24
Bridgeton story I feel like you've
24:26
opened the doors for a lot of other
24:28
folks to create in the way that you have
24:30
that show these timepieces and and show
24:33
the diversity in these timepieces as
24:35
well so I want to say congratulations to
24:37
you yeah and then on all your success
24:39
that you've had and uh continued success
24:42
to you Shonda rhymes I know you have to
24:45
go but I wish you can stay I wish I
24:47
could stay too okay we had a good time I
24:49
had a really good time okay cool man we
24:51
did I made it
24:54
you go for a moment
24:56
um don't forget Queen Charlotte or
24:58
Bridgeton story is streaming today on
25:00
Netflix six new episodes I'll be home
25:02
binge watching it tonight give it up for
25:05
Shonda Rhimes okay
25:08
we're at the right we're coming right
25:09
back sway in the morning shade four or
25:10
five
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