For many people, Sandra Oh will forever be Cristina Yang, no matter how much they love the voluminously coiffed Eve Polastri. But for a hot, hot second, Oh wanted to ditch the scrubs on Grey’s Anatomy to be the power-suit-stunting political fixer Olivia Pope in Scandal. But alas, creator Shonda Rhimes shut that down real fast. Oh relived her initial excitement in a Variety conversation with the real Olivia Pope, Kerry Washington. The Little Fires Everywhere and Killing Eve stars discussed what they learned from the legendary showrunner, but mostly fangirled. “I’ve got to tell you, I remember exactly where I was when I read that damn pilot,†Oh said to Washington, who described getting the script as “holding a miracle.†“Oh, yeah,†she continues. “I was on Grey’s. We were on stage five. Someone snuck it to me. I don’t know who it was, but I got my hands on that pilot and I read it, and I was just like, ‘How could I play Olivia Pope?’†Obviously, you go to the woman in charge. “I remember going to Shonda, and it’s like, ‘How could I do this? What is this script? Could I do this too?’†Oh remembers. “She goes, ‘No, you’ve got to play Cristina Yang!’†Well, that was true until it wasn’t. But it just goes to show that Oh was a Scandal megafan from day one. “I also feel like it’s so wonderful and rare when you get in your hands something that you know is electric, that you can feel,†she told Washington. “I’m so glad it was you.â€