Olivia Pope

Olivia Carolyn Pope is a fictional character created by Shonda Rhimes for the political drama television series Scandal. The character is partially based on Judy Smith. In the series, Pope is played as an adult by Kerry Washington and as a child by Yara Shahidi. Pope is a Washington, D.C.-based crisis manager who runs her own firm, Olivia Pope & Associates (OPA), that specializes in "fixing" political situations and scandals. The character has become a widely watched fashion and style trendsetter. 2Characterization Pope is loosely based on Judy Smith, who served as George H. W. Bush's Deputy Press Secretary and represented Monica Lewinsky during the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. On Scandal, she is a revered fixer who helped United States President Fitzgerald Grant (played by Tony Goldwyn) win office. Pope is a former lawyer and White House aide. Pope "thinks fast and effectively". Her delivery is through what The New York Times's Alessandra Stanley describes as admonitory, staccato sentence