Why Everyone Loves to Hate Mellie Grant From 'Scandal'

'She doesn't care what people think,' says actress Bellamy Young. 'She says what you wish you could say'

By Melissa Locker

"I'm on my knees thanking God for this everyday," laughs Bellamy Young, who plays First Lady Mellie Grant on the smash television hit Scandal. Standing by President Grant's side – whether he wants her there or not – she's tough as nails, brilliant and ambitious – and also one of the most polarizing characters in recent history. "People just love to hate me!" she tells Rolling Stone. "But it's with glee, not actual ferocity."

Young doesn't mind the attention, considering her character was supposed to last just three episodes. "I only had two lines in the pilot!" Young says. "At the first table read, [creator] Shonda [Rimes] said my character was going to have a short arc, because she wanted to do a Presidential divorce. I was crushed." That will come as a shock to most Scandal fans, who know that Mellie has far exceeded her life expectancy. "They found her fulcrum," explains Young. "They found how useful she could be in this story."

Useful is an understatement in describing the role Mellie Grant has played in the jaw- dropping events that unfurl every week. "These writers constantly top themselves," Young says. "Every week, I think it's the most surprising thing I've ever read – and then I get the next script. After we read, we all have to sit quietly for a moment – breathing, needing a nap, needing a Xanax, needing a coconut water." As for what the viewers love to hate about Mellie, Young thinks their hatred is mixed with respect.

"We're meeting Mellie in a really complicated moment," she explains. "And she is meeting those moments with such courage that she really doesn't care what people think. She's sort of a living wish fulfillment. She says, in those moments, what you wish you could say – the things that I would only say in the car on the way home." Young adds that Mellie's love life is something many people can relate to. "She loves Fitz, but it's her Achilles heel and her downfall. She would be so much better if she could let it go. Only deep passion could keep you in something so miserable."

In a show that prides itself on shocking events, two scenes stand out to the actress: "When I had that baby early to spite or manipulate Fitz and the threat to give the interview. People don't do that on television!" Not that Young thinks Mellie is happy about her actions. "She wakes up every day sick to her stomach about the choices she made and tries to move forward," Young says. "Perfection isn't always perfect: it's her dream, but also it's her nightmare."

It's Young's calculating attempts to turn her perceived happiness into a reality that makes Mellie Grant such a compelling character. She's such a force of nature that it seems impossible that Young and her character won't be forever intertwined. But the 43-year-old isn't worried that she'll be forever identified with the formidable First Lady. "I've never had an opportunity like this. I'm a woman, a woman of a certain age in Hollywood, and the fact that I get to say the words I get to say is a privilege," she says. "If I get to spend the rest of my days doing the monologues that Shonda wrote for me, that would be a privilege."

A Moment with Scandal's Bellamy Young

Our favorite first lady on television, Scandal’s Mellie Grant is cunning, manipulative, and arctically cold— which is why when we first met Bellamy Young, the actress who brings her to life, we were blindsided by her sunny temperament. A genuine southern belle who wears her heart on her sleeve, Young is happiest singing show tunes; she’s part of that rare class of people who ask you how you are—and then actually await your answer. Tonight, Young is all Mellie on the Season 3 premiere of Scandal at 10/9c on ABC. But yesterday, Ms. Young took a break from her Machiavellian alter ego to tell Bazaar about the genius of Shonda Rhimes and what it’s like to be the sweetest bitch on TV. Plus, get a sneak preview at one of her looks from tonight's episode.

By Romy Oltuski Harper’s Bazaar: Have you gotten a sneak peak of the new season in its final form?

Bellamy Young: We just watched the first episode yesterday as a cast. There are a couple of things that I think people are just going to lose their minds over. There’s one line in the first scene between Olivia [Pope] and her dad—now that you know it’s her dad—I really want see how it lands.

HB: Last season ended on a series of cliffhangers. That father reveal was Star Wars level. Do we get any resolution in the beginning of Season 3?

BY: Now where would the fun in that be? This episode plays like other shows’ whole seasons. We jump right in and stir up the crazy.

HB: I hear you’re in the middle of filming a game- changing episode for Mellie.

BY: Yeah, this episode (307) is incredible. Bless her heart, Mellie’s never had to face something like this. She and I are just going to get through the week the best we can.

HB: We’ve chatted before, so I know you’re a perfect southern belle. How do you transform into Mellie so totally?

BY: A lot of my job is done for me because the scripts we get are like jewels. Different writers write different characters, and I’m blessed to say Shonda Rhimes writes Mellie. Usually in a writer’s room, the writers break the stories together, and a different writer is in charge of each episode. In our case, they break the story together, and they all write the character and the storylines they’re in charge of and then bring them back together. That’s why we have such astonishing cohesion of voice in each character.

It’s an incredible way to work as an actor because of the consistency. Even phonetically, I’ve noticed, I will always have verb-adverb, verb-adverb, and I will usually have a list of three. There are just some very fundamental building blocks that remain the same that allow you to believe that you are a real, functioning human being.

HB: Does playing Mellie get the mean out of your system?

BY: I will admit, I’m so conflict-averse in real life that it is sort of like wish fulfillment, saying all those things that I usually get hesitant to say.

HB: In addition to its strong cast of characters, the show is built on its plot twists. How far in advance do you learn about them?

BY: We read the script cold at lunch the day before we start shooting the episode. So we have maybe sixteen hours before you stand up and give a career-changing monologue. You meet it like life. You never know what’s coming.

HB: Is it ever frustrating to be the one everyone loves to hate?

BY: I don’t mind at all. Anyone who’s loved has gone through an hour when they’ve loved unrequitedly. And a lot of women have gone through situations of being the woman behind the man. And a lot of women have felt the frustration of being far more capable than their circumstances allow them to show. Mellie is living all of that, in every moment. That’s so many people’s truth, so I think it’s a blessing to have that scarlet letter on my chest—even though I didn’t do the adultery.

R: I hear that you’re also working on an album.

BY: I am! We have a little break from filming in November, and I’m going to put together an album of covers. It’s like Billy Bragg, Pink, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits, Ryan Adams—just songs that I love. It’s truly self-indulgent, I’m not going to lie.

R: So, the ultimate mix tape.

B: The ultimate mix tape! I love it—I just named it. You know, one day in the future, when I’m 90, I want people to remember that I sing.

R: What’s most played on your iTunes right now?

BY: I just bought that new Civil Wars album. This week is super difficult for Mellie, the character, and for me as an actor, and Glenn Gould is helping me. I’m also a child of the ’80s so I get a little Fleetwood Mac on if I want to feel better.