Behind the Scenes of TV Guide’s Photo Shoot
Tony Goldwyn Discusses Scandal’s Heartbreaking Twist: ‘I Literally Couldn’t Speak the Words’
Actors, of course, can be very protective of their characters. What was your reaction when you heard for the first time that Fitz would end Verna’s life?
We got this script very late; I don’t think any of us got it before the table read. So when we sat down to read it out loud together and I got to the scene that precedes that — at Verna’s funeral, when Olivia comes up to me and says, “I will wait for you Fitz. I’ll wait as long as you need,” and I turn to her and say, “Oh yeah, about that; I changed my mind” — I was completely shocked. I literally couldn’t speak the words. I couldn’t figure out where that came from because [it preceded the flashback to Verna’s reveal]. As far as I knew, the last time I spoke to Liv, I said, “Wait for me,” and suddenly coming out of my mouth are these words that are the antithesis of what I’ve felt. I somehow forced the words out and [series creator] Shonda [Rhimes] looked at me and mouthed, “It’s going to be OK, don’t worry.”And then the scene came up, the scene with Verna that followed, and I realized, “Oh my God, I’m going to kill her.” I was shocked by that, but I was less shocked than I was by my reversal with Liv. I couldn’t process that. I had, like, a literal and physical reaction.
