Bellamy Young only had two real lines in the "Scandal" pilot. One was about her children and the other was about finding her husband's mistress a dinner date.
Five seasons later, her character, the fiercely flawed Melody "Mellie" Grant, has developed into a series stalwart, delivering some of the political soap's most arresting moments to date. She's been a first lady, divorcée, mother, schemer, victim, and now, a victor. In the closing moments of this season's penultimate episode, Mellie clinched the nomination for the Republican presidential primary. Eat your heart out, Fitz.
Young, who has partnered with Treximet to raise awareness for migraines, never imagined that her role as Mellie, initially intended to be a three-episode arc, would transform into a regular gig or possibly place her in charge of the free world on one of TV's most popular dramas.
"I feel like I won the lottery. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think I'm the luckiest girl to get to go on this ride," she told The Huffington Post. "You never know what's going to happen. You're gonna be the hero or the villain."
And for much of the series' run, her character has been painted as the latter, the primary obstacle to the one true pairing of President Fitzgerald Grant (Tony Goldwyn) and Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington). But as "Scandal" progressed, so has Mellie, revealing a complex individual behind the well-coiffed, perfect first lady exterior.
"I've never been a series regular before, so I've never had this sort of longevity with a character," she said. "To have actual history like that allows you to bring a very thick history to a scene. There's just nothing like it."
In the face of political assassinations, White House trysts, the death of her first son and scandals that would make Monica Lewinsky do a double-take, Young's character has luckily found a partner in Goldwyn's. Although their relationship on screen has been contentious to say the least, Young says when she acts alongside him "those moments soar."
She added, "I like that [Fitz and Mellie] been in each other's lives for so long. It feels very real to me. You have to be able to be with your co-parent. It can't be all drama or nothing gets done. But then they can go from zero to 1,000 in an instant. He can raise an eyebrow and I'll be enraged."
Luckily, Mellie might have another more stable suitor in her future. In Marcus (Cornelius Smith Jr.), the newest gladiator and cast member on "Scandal," she finds a counterpart who finally treats her like she's not about to break. The pair have yet to act on their obvious tension, but ended up within kissing distance in last week's episode, only to be interrupted by a poorly timed campaign staffer. But Young assured us that we're not hallucinating their palpable on-screen chemistry, revealing that, in Mellie's eyes, Marcus is invaluable.
"[Marcus] can cut through to her because he's the only person who has ever sort of smacked her in the face with reality," she explained. "No one else will say that to her ... Mellie sees that his counsel is wise and she is humble enough to take direction."
Although the season finale will unlikely hold a resolution to their potential romance or see Mellie take charge of the Oval Office -- Season 6 doesn't write itself -- Young hopes that one day Mellie will have both. After all, doesn't she deserve it?
"I would love to see Mellie finally happy," Young said. "If she were president and had someone who loved her, she would be a whole different person. I feel like we met her in the worst moment of her life. For those two things to dovetail, I think it would be a whole other Mellie we've never seen."
The season finale of Scandal airs tonight on ABC at 9 p.m./8 p.m. central.
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