Shonda Rhimes Shares Which Of Her TV Characters Need A ‘Year Of Yes’

Shonda Rhimes is a beloved determine within the leisure business, identified for creating a number of the most iconic TV reveals, together with “Gray’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” “Non-public Observe,” and “The right way to Get Away with Homicide.” Rhimes, 55, can be identified for penning a number of the most dramatic storylines which have stored viewers on the perimeters of their seats for many years.

Throughout a dialog with Robin Roberts on the Shonda Rhimes in Dialog occasion, the TV producer and mom of three opened up concerning the tenth anniversary of her 2015 memoir, “Yr of Sure: The right way to Dance It Out, Stand within the Solar and Be Your Personal Particular person.” Together with the ebook, Rhimes dished on which of her well-known characters may benefit from having their very own “12 months of sure.”

In keeping with Rhimes, Olivia Pope, the political fixer identified for wreaking havoc throughout Washington, D.C., within the drama “Scandal,” is the one character who wants her personal “12 months of sure.”

Rhimes admitted that Pope, performed by the legendary Kerry Washington, at all times had so much on her plate in the course of the present’s preliminary run. “She’s had a tricky life. I believe she may actually profit from a ‘sure.'”

For these unfamiliar, Rhimes’ memoir, “Yr of Sure,” is concerning the author’s one-year journey of claiming “sure” to something that made her barely nervous or fearful—from talking engagements to having “uncomfortable conversations.”

In truth, Rhimes informed Roberts that the latter is one lesson she’s stored near her coronary heart over time, primarily as a result of she grew up as an individual who was afraid of battle. As she’s gotten older, nonetheless, Rhimes acknowledged she discovered herself in stickier conditions by not saying what she meant the primary time. “So now, 10 years later, … I say the onerous factor first, as the primary a part of the sentence,” she said.

For Rhimes, popping out of the gate swinging with essentially the most difficult a part of what must be stated has helped her navigate powerful waters tremendously. “I say it, you understand, whether or not it is, ‘You may’t work right here anymore,’ or, ‘This relationship’s not working,’ or ‘You’ve got requested for an excessive amount of too many occasions,'” she stated. “Or to my daughter, ‘You are not getting a nostril ring it doesn’t matter what you say.'”

Lately, Rhimes launched an prolonged model of her “Yr of Sure” memoir, including seven new chapters primarily based on her lived experiences since its preliminary launch. Whereas remodeling the publication, Rhimes admitted to getting emotional when trying again at what she’d written the primary time.

“Similar to anyone else who hadn’t learn the ebook in a very long time, I sat down and I reread what I had written, and my coronary heart went out to that individual,” she stated. “My coronary heart went out to that lady who was so closed off and so shy.”

Rhimes added that the girl who wrote the primary model of the ebook in 2015 is not the identical individual in 2026. “I may really feel the ache that I clearly was feeling at the moment, and it made me notice that there is been a lot occurring within the 10 years since that I virtually do not acknowledge the individual on the finish of the ebook,” she stated.

Rhimes defined that folks at this time can discover the author’s demeanor has utterly shifted. “Folks say to me that I appear lighter and extra … simply extra comfy in my very own pores and skin, I believe. And perhaps I am having much more enjoyable,” she stated.

In 2024, when Washington—who additionally has credit in “Little Fires In all places,” “Django Unchained,” “The Simpsons,” and extra—acquired her star on the Hollywood Stroll of Fame, the actress and mom of three opened up about how enjoying Olivia Pope (the primary Black lady lead in a community TV drama in 40 years) had a significant influence on her.