Unpacking the ToolboxSince Scott Foley, aka Jake Ballard, was notorious for fart noises in set, which spread through the rest of the Scandal cast, it’s only appropriate that this episode comes with a content warning: Gas. But when Scott, Katie and Guillermo aren’t discussing mouth noises, they deep dive into how Scott got cast on Scandal, then RE-CAST on Scandal, and the infamous basketball scene with President Fitz.
What do you think, Gladiators? Email us at UTT@Shondaland.com or leave us a voicemail at 805-298-1474 to share your thoughts about the show, about food, about life, but mostly about the show. We would love to hear from you!
Unpacking the Toolbox is a production of Shondalind Audio in partnership with Higheartradio. Downs Katie.
I just took a shower. I've never done a podcast with wet hair.
Really, it looks really cute. I like your hair all curly like that.
Eww, it's so yuck.
It's wetty. It's wetty. Just shoved food down my throat because I was like, we.
Got a tape and you need all the energy, except sometimes you're life. But then it's all going to go to my stomach and I'm not going to be into this at all. What did you have?
But it's worse if I don't eat, because then I'll just be doing this and just be thinking about food. I ate. I warmed up a pita in the oven and had all this amazing hummus that I got at this spot called the Vegan Exchange. It's a vegan Exchange festival that they have every Sunday here in North Hollywood, and I bought all this amazing homemade like hummuses.
I've never been there.
Oh God, we gotta go. Yeah, yeah, let's go. Our friend Jess runs it. Shout out to Ess and it's amazing all this great like vegan food, and then they sell you know, hummuses and juices and fruit and plants and produce a bunch of stuff everything.
Like fake burgers and fake nuggets and shit.
Yeah yeah, I had a Philly cheese steak sandwich and it was plant based. Yeah, it was cheese and whatever. Yeah. And sushi and there's an amazing sushi truck and I got spicy tuna and it's so good.
It's made out of cha.
No, it's made out of chickpeas. That particular one was made out of chickpeas.
Yeah.
Anyway, it was so good. It was so good. So I'm nice and full.
Now some people make chickpeas, make them real gassy.
But yeah, oh shit, that's that answers a lot now that you say that. God damn it.
All right.
You know who's my favorite vegan on the planet?
Tell me young Oh yeah, of course.
Our very own Melly. She was like the first real true vegan, because I have some like vegetarians that also dabble in pescatarian that are just eating fish. But she's really the first person, as a true staunch vegan that I spent eight years with where it's like she won't even butter eggs like the real deal.
Remember we went to Israel with her and I remember her full on sticking to her vegan diet. It's difficult when you travel years. Oh yeah, yeah, and that was way back. That was back in the day. Now it's easier. Now there's vegan spots all over the place and restaurants know that there's people are doing the vegan things, so there's always vegan options. But back then it was hard. It was difficult.
Yeah, and she's been doing it first since way before we meet. But she's the biggest fucking animal lover ever, like because she's worked with a SPCA. Yeah, a ton of stuff. But and she looks like she looks looks so good that it makes me want to be a vegan. G and I we're not vegan, we're not omnivores, we're not pescatarian, we're not bad cheery. We just like all fucking food.
It just exactly what exactly I just like to eat.
Today. We have a fucking amazing guest. He is a scandal staple and he was not around in season one.
The whole time. No, he came in season three or.
Now you two two. He's sexy, he's television famous, he's television royalty.
Oh yeah, and it's appropriate that he came in season two because it's the number two and he was the king of doing the fart noises on set. He is the reason that we all still do like every day, I will the thing.
We also talked about chickpeas in this episode because we have the one and only, sir gentleman, classiest dude in the world who does a rolling speed and.
Action every time. Every time, I still do that.
How dramatic the scene. Yeah, Scott Full, we love a gem of gems. Thank you so much for being on the pod. We love you, I love you both for everyone listening. Scott Fully is television royalty and fame. He has been on eight thousand successful, prolific, fucking shows. So where did you pick up this habit? Did you get it from someone else? Does it come out of your magnificent brain? Talk to us.
I'm glad we're This is something I really wanted to dive into. I think, if I'm being honest, I think it started on The Unit when I was on the show called The Unit on CBS. You know a bunch of guys running around with guns. There were women in the show as well, but our storylines were almost never together, so the dudes would run around and do missions, and we'd be working in Santa Clarita at three in the morning, drinking coffee and challenging people like, hey, I'll give you a hundred bucks if you run up that hill before they say action and eat fifty eggs or do all the stupid shit, and it just came out. You'd be sitting in a scene, they'd be setting something up and a camera operated would bend over and you just and it was literally it was I'm embarrassed. It was.
Fucking best because it's not only how it started, by the way, you're not the only First of all, everyone was doing it on the Scandal.
Set Scott because of Scot.
Oh, if I drop anything where your sides, Yeah, you had to bend over and do something in a scene somebody was making a fucking fart sound. And it because, I honestly think too similar to the unit. We weren't all dues running around. But I think there is also something to be said when you're on a very dramatic show where the subject matter is dramatic.
You got to break your tension day.
Killing people, guns, all this shit. It's like you have to. It's like you doing this for fourteen hours a day. It's like somebody needs a fart joked.
It's like, I think there's something from the outside that's very glamorous about what we do, right, But at the end of it, we're a bunch of people basically working a blue collar job. We're creatives, but we're in a warehouse around a bunch of heavy machinery and equipment, lights and cables and dudes with crack showing and like, you grow to fill that box.
It's so true.
Please tell us you still do it like in your regular times? Good do you still make the fart soundly?
Appreciate it? And a wife who gets angry every time it happens, and I do it to her more than anybody else. So I'm really still leaning into my fart sound. There's different there's tones to a good fake fart sound, right, It depends on the person you're doing it and the mood they're in in the setting. Like it can trend up, yeah, it can trend down. It can just yes, thank you, this is a quick one. It can just be a little squirt. It can be a long drawn out one, so there's a lot of there's a lot of nuance.
Do good at it. It's like you are in a like a glee band where you're the person doing like beatboxing, but you're unbelievable at Tonal party. It's unbelievable. It is such a special skill set and brought me so much joy as you did on set every day. Can you tell us how you got this part and how crazy it was, because I think the story is that your wife, who is in the Scandal Wives Club, how she watched the show. You didn't correct.
I was in the Shondaland universe. I was shooting Gray's Anatomy. I think it was at season six or seven of Grey's Anatomy. And I was having a bunch of fun doing that, and and Shonda called me to her office and she said, I wrote a script and the network really seems to like it and they want to make the pilot and I want you to be in it. And I said okay, and she said you want to read it. I was yay yahyeh, sure I should go read it. So I walked from her office back to my trailer on the Gray's anatomy lot there. What is that pro prospect?
Yeah, prospect And I read it.
And it was great, and she said, I wrote this part just for you, and I said I'd love to do it. And it was pilot season coming up, so I called my agents and I said, hey, I got a pilot Shonda wrote for me. And they said great, and it was done.
That's a nice you were like, yeah, I did on a veil, not even auditioning, no audition even auditioning.
It was every actor's dream. And about a month and maybe three weeks. A month later, Shonda calls me personally. I'm not on set, but she calls me at home and she says, I have some terrible news. And I was like a christ. She said, I you're still I still want you to do this part, but I'm going to name drop him right here. Didn't think I was television material. Wow, I said, what does that mean? She said, he wants you to read for it. I said, I'm an actor, of course I'll read for this part. So we set up a time and I came into Linda always little office and read it with the director.
And Paul McGuigan.
Yeah, that's right, and and Linda and I thought it went great, and Shonda said it went great, and Linda said it went great, and Paul was like, wait to go, And then I guess I didn't like it? What So they said, we want you to read again. So I went back in and I read again, and Shanda called and she said, I'm so sorry he wants to go a different way with the role. I don't know what to tell you.
What the hell, dude?
And I look, this is the business we're in. What can you do. There's a bunch of chefs in the kitchen, So life goes on. I went and I did another show called The good Win Games from the Guys who Met from How I Met your Mother.
You were so good on that show.
I love that show so much.
It was so great on a comedy. You're so good.
And that was That was another bone that was thrown my way because I had passed on How I Met your Mother. No because of Scandal, No, because of the fucking Unit.
Sorry, Oh my god, Scott, I on How I Met your Mother hearing stories like that, because oh my god, that show is a residual juggernaut.
Of a show, like, yeah, but you got on Scandals, So that's just.
Is it a good residual wise?
Not residualise?
I just had dinner with Kobe's boulders. Let me tell you something. How I met your mother? Is there juggernaut it? Anyway?
So that show came to an end, and when it ended, there was an announcement in the news that it wasn't getting picked up. And Seanna called me and I think it was now the second season you guys had done. You did seven episodes? Episodes? Yeah, you did seven to seven yeah, And she called me and she said, I'm trying to get you back on the show I wrote apart just for you. Will you come and do it? And I was like, yeah, I got no, my show just got cancel. What else am I going to do? And Marika I was like, babe, What's what is this? How does it look? Because I had a bad taste in my mouth about it?
Yeah, you're like about watching the show that I didn't get cast on to like further the burn because I'm a bitter bad I get it.
And we watched it and forgive me for this. I was like, who are these people? And She's like, what's happening? And Mariecaus like you got to do it. It's so good, and so I called Shonda. We had a conversation and we made a deal. I was going to be a recurring character on the second season and coming halfway through the second season, and if the show got picked up for a third which wasn't in any way a guarantee at that point, then I would become a series regular going forward. And so we negotiated the deal. Everything was great, and that's that's my scandal story.
My god, you have done the love triangle thing. Shout out, Felicity. I think you did it on Dawson's Creek. I think like you are real good.
And the other guys we're going to be in the other guy.
You do it so well.
Did you know that you were gonna be you really did? Did you know that it was you were going to be in this love triangle to Tony and Carrie. Had that been presented to you? Where you were like, I don't even know the character?
She said, I would be a love interest to the lead girl, and that was all I knew, and I didn't know anything. You guys had done seven episodes, I think, and maybe a couple from the second season had aired by the time I showed up. I think I showed up in I don't know, two twelve to thirteen, something like that. So you'd only done a total of twenty episodes before I came, and I hadn't I didn't know. Seanda says, I got a plan. You're going to be this guy and you're a love interest. But there's more to it.
Oh yeah, she probably knew all of that, but none of us ever knew what was coming down the pike right for our characters until Yeah.
I don't think anybody knew either.
Yeah, you could be in that writer's room and they'd be like, what's today. They're like, I don't know, let's start again, throw it up.
From yell and I think I heard That's what they liked, Like they liked the energy of the show, being like holy shit, Like you don't like they were up again. They were up against the ticking time clock as well, which is why you feel that so much in the show.
Did you know Tony or Carrie beforehand, Scott? Had you met them?
No?
Oh?
Wow, Carrie had dated a guy who lived on my street. I'd seen her, Yeah, I'd seen her like walking a dog maybe.
Probably, Yeah, And I was at like walking mine and you sort of nod like she's an actress ring.
Yeah, but I you know, did you know you're going to be macing on her on the show for six seasons? Ever?
Stand in the sun with me, Jake stands in the sun with me?
Little did I would be in the Bahamas together five years.
From there, baking asshole.
I so wish you guys had that experience.
That's crazy the Gladiators listening and that is an episode at a different time. But we are we good to have you back on because I this is at the start of that episode, you go, you and Carrie alone to an island by yourself. You were on private boats, You're on a private island, You're on a private plane, and the rest of us are just sitting.
Freaking our show was done.
Yeah wait. I also want to know, was Shanda like a big Felicity fan? Sewana is a huge TV nerd and TV fan like you, always has been from the time she was like a long time ago. Was she like so into you and your work from Felicity?
Is that like so I think that was it? Yeah? And look, I don't know, I do know, I know she loved Felicity and Scott Stevens on Gray's Anatomy as we speak.
Oh yeah, that's all right. Damn how long has he been on that on the show?
Longer than me? And I'm upset about it?
Yeah, I love it.
Talk about a juggernaut. Juggernaut right is forging? What the hell? This season? What like thirty two?
What is it? Season twenty? You're twenty one now?
But oh my god, I was so excited.
To get to be a part of Grey's Anatomy and so bummed when I found out I wasn't a doctor because I knew that I was going to die and my time. Now, if you can be a doctor Gray's Anatomy and stay there forever your grandkids are in college, you're doing fine.
Yeah, we'll be right back. Guys.
Okay, I need to talk to you about this episode. And it's okay if you totally didn't watch it, because there is some of the.
You totally watched it, and I watched Kate Burton say I'm not here to urinate. And by the way, my favorite line of the whole episode.
Yes, he's unbelievable.
This episode, Gladiators, we're talking about episode three oh five called More Cattle Less Bowl. It aired on October thirty, first Halloween. That yeah, the year.
Literally, I just packed up the fromaldehyde bat you gave me for Yeah, I pulled it out, and for whatever reason, I hadn't put it away yet, So I just put it away last week.
I love it. I think Katie threw that shit away. Didn't you throw it away? Katie?
What it's hidden in the box? Well. This episode was written by ten Bands. It was directed by Randy Zisk and Gee, who is a guest starring.
It was guest starring Stony Westmoreland as hal Eron. Chambers is Mara, and Jay Jackson is the TV anchor.
And real quick to jog our memories of what the fuck happens. The OPA team investigates Democratic Congresswoman Josie Marcus, while Olivia and Melly have a surprising run in during the White House Correspondence dinner.
Meanwhile, Jake and Huckett closer to the truth about Operation Remington, which could lead to devastating results.
Guys, the first thing that needs to be spoken about this episode, which is the most important scene that we need to get to, is the basketball scene. I don't even give a shit about the rest of this episode, we have to talk about.
You and Tony playing basketball.
Which Scott, you are an athlete, you're a great tennis player, You're a great basketball player. Can you please tell us why this happened? What it was like?
Is this worse than the dancing Scott? Was this worse than the Oh God?
So it got his laughing so hard? Okay, for those of you listening, Tony Goldwyn has got so much swag as fits. We are not saying like anything, It's just that Tony is really an artist and maybe not a great basketball player. Am I saying something wrong? I'll let me say I.
Don't know what you're saying. I remember I remember story Tony once told me about Shanda asking him early on in the run of the show, I want to have you doing something physical. What's a playing tennis? He was like nope. She was like, how about basketball? He was like nope. She said what you saw? He was like, he said, I chop would Yeah.
We had him on that episode where he's he has said this that choppingwood is really one of the few physical things he can do, which, by the way, wasn't he in like the Huge Tennis Movie as a coach Like last year.
Yes, Yeah, we had actually a really great time doing this. And I will be the first to say, our poor crew. I couldn't shoot a shop for to save my life. I could not make a basket. They were like totally just we want to get a couple of you putting it in. I was like, not loved. I played in high school. I was like fuck, fuck fuck.
It was just like too much pressure people.
I think I had two kids, my wife was pregnant with a third. I hadn't been shooting baskets in ten years. I don't know.
It's just a way because the person I don't know a goddamn thing about the sport. So it was effective for me, which is two hot men using basketball as if they're fighting over their girl, like the you're fighting over fighting over Olivia. But it's basketball, and it totally fucking worked. However, Adam would be the first person to say, when I remember when it came out, my husband only watched his basketball seventy five hundred hours a week, but he was like, wow, Tony is really bad.
Really spotted it. See I didn't even spot it.
I couldn't even be played when we played. Tony was no worse than I was. I'm completely unstilly.
Then they must have coughtvered. They must have covered something that he did that you didn't do that. I remember Adam being like, oh my god, Tony, wow not a basketball player, and.
Wow, that shit really well though, because you.
Can't do a really good job. I don't remember seeing that episode, and I watched it today before we did this, and aside from the fake sweat all over me, oh my god, please the amount of water they sprayed on my back to make it look like we were really.
Sweating, but I do remember a note that I took when I did watch the scene, And again I couldn't tell anybody was good or bad. It just was fucking hot. You both looked great eye and looked like you knew what you were doing, because you're great actors. But I remember you taking off your jacket and your shirt was already soaking wet and you hadn't even started playing yet. I was like, oh, yeah, the ba a wet mark on it in when you were like, all right, let's do this, like you hadn't even played yet.
It was so much fun. We shot at a I think it was like a private house or something in Brentwood. Yeah, it was great being anytime I got the opportunity to be sort of one on one with you guys. I have really great memories of those moments. I thought of one the other day with me and g. We were doing a car scene.
Yes, I was thinking about that to Scott.
And we were sitting there and something was taken long, and the ad came up a couple times, and the last time the ad came up, and so it just be a minute, he rolled the window up and G goes the fuck out.
I got of here. Yeah, I love that is one of the most special moments for me with you because we just we hung out in that car for the whole day and we just kept saying that, and even later on, like shooting the show, we would just keep you know, we would say fuck out, like just for you, don't yeah, just for.
You guys have a lot in this episode together. I never realized that, like you two is the B six thirteen people trying to get Maya pope out of here, Like you two have this whole unspoken language of these aside eyes and like, how do we do work this system? We do everything B six thirteen, which, by the way.
You're a B six thirteen.
We need you're a B six thirteen. I heard that by someone I will not name names, pretty high up that around this time they were thinking about a B six thirteen spinoff.
Really damn that guess didn't freaking happen.
It's not from the highest of highest ups, so it could be a complete fucking bullshit scenario. But I was watching this episode and I was like, oh my god. And three thirteen Scott, when you become the head of command, I was like, holy shit, this is like a hole and we're at Acne Paper and.
Like, yeah, yeah, it's a nice you work there.
It's a whole other world. Like it's just.
Really remember the first time we were on that set wherever the hell it was, and that you worked as the receptionist. It was in the middle of this sort of oval shaped lobby thing, and ah, man, I have such Oh that's crazy. I do.
Remind me too.
And Quinn was being such a little bit. She was like, I don't want to wear a death I have a gun to do this, and you were like pay your dues. You're like nothing, it's still even in consideration if you're really be six thirteen, Well, that.
Was about give me a gun. You bought a gun in this thing. You traded in the router for a gun.
I know that's right with her.
I don't remember any of that.
I don't remember a lot of it either.
I have to say, the worst acting of the whole episode is definitely for me his Quinn walking in her horrible shoes in the rubble of Montana or whatever. I was like, oh my god, Katie, you are the worst.
Like everybody telling your ground.
Bills and you're an idiot and it's just so stupid. Okay, who's anyone have favorite highlight acting moments of this episode?
Oh?
We know Scott's Oh Caperton is it? Sally Langston? Yeah? What does she say?
She says, I'm not here to urinate. When she goes to see Paul in the bathroom when he's pissed. I'm so proud. I was so proud of Randy's this. He directed this right, Yes, I was so proud of Randy for actually having him standing at the Jurnal going to the bathroom. Just don't see that a whole lot.
But did you notice? Did you guys notice it? Also Paul motions to Sally, Hey, you want this urinal. You want a p next to me?
Yeah, the ladies room is packed as normal. Come here, you can use this And she was like, I'm out here to arn it.
Was so fucking brilliant. Oh wait, I wanted to ask you, in stemming from the basketball scene, how did it feel to be the other man for the whole time?
I don't know. The paychecks cash, The truth is like total. I was totally happy with my part. I never saw any real life complication Tony. He's a great friend of mine, and from the second I stepped on that set, Tony was a great frien I shouldn't say that from the second after the first table read, because from my first table read, everybody came up and said hello, hi, bit not one word from Tony really one, not a hello, not a handshake, not a welcome, no anything. He was like he's taken over something well you know, and Carrie was like, he's got a little he's a little little jealous. I was like what. But after that, whatever it was, he was probably hungry or had to be on set or.
Dreading in line to like get his samwich or something and his piece of salmon.
There. We all know he never ate a sandwich. He only ate salads, salad please, he was taking his shirt. Yeah, that salad with tuna, remembering fruit. Yeah, you never seen them eat a sandwich.
I'll tell you something. I would watch Tony down a whole donut and then take his shirt off that He was like, are you kidding? Niccord?
You look amazing in this You too, like, dude, you come on, you had to take off I think in this episode, did you have to take off your shirt?
I did. I took my shirt off in this episode. I was like, oh, look at young Yeah.
Isn't it crazy how you feel self conscious at the moment.
I look back at the ship on this show when I'm in bron underwear, and I was like, what was my problem?
I look good?
Right?
Yeah?
Why was I so freaked out? And also I would take that any day over what I'm working with now.
But Scott, you were always really good about not eating cookies, Like when you knew your shirt was going to come off, you were good about making sure you were eating the right thing or not eating.
His kryptonite was a cup of nuts. You can cut take down a cup of cashews with but.
At least that's healthy. At least that's healthy.
But no, he was not. You were not eating dessert.
It's not that I was good, It's that I was terrified, completely paranoid.
That the world was going to see who shot.
Goldwin.
But you look just as good, man, You look good.
This dude was born with a six pack. A that's not fair and B.
From Ghosts to Scandal. Dude takes his shirt up and you're like, I just can't win.
But well, you looked amazing and you did incredible, and G and I were so lucky because you people had to really be the hot ones on the show, and G and I could really just get fucking.
Here's a slob. I never had to worry about. I can get drunk the night before and come a seat and have bags into my eyes and be like, let's go, let's shoot it.
Say something, though, G, I'll say something and it. For whatever reason, your character was probably the most specific in the entire show. It was a true character. Yes, there was Olivia Pope in this book. To a certain degree, we're all playing versions of ourselves. You know, I'm hoping Huck is not a version of you. It's it was a beautiful performance. And I listened because I was able to come on and do this podcast. I listened to one the other day and it was the seven seven What was the fi? It was seven fifty two episode and guys, that was one of the first table reads I was there for. That was in that warehouse, and I remember being a part of that. I had a line or two maybe, or I was there for a fitting, I don't know. And I sat at the table read and it blew my mind. And what you guys did with that episode, and it's still I haven't watched it in forever because I don't watch because does anyone watch it anymore?
But we only watched the show because we have to for the podcast, and we're loving it so much.
But there's two didn't watch TV anymore? Horses and.
Television like in the cannon of television.
Directed and filmed gorgeous episode.
Yeah, okay, so we've got your favorite off track? Is what we love? Gee? Any favorite acting moments for you in this One.
Of my favorite acting moments. Oh god, imagine it's the moment at the end of the episode and I'm sitting on the floor. I remember shooting the scene and me and Scott, Me and Huck and Jake are trying to figure out the riddle what happened with Remington the flight. Yes, we're trying to figure all that stuff out. And I finally say to Jake says to Jake her last name was Pope, and then it cuts to Scott and Scott says, no, that was my one of my favorite moments in this episode, aside from Mellie's hair acting like that hair that just came out of nowhere, those curls.
There were a couple scenes where her hair was it was like she was she was the equivalent of Alicia Keys's dress last.
Night at the super Bowl.
At the super Bowl, it was the biggest thing I've ever seen. And then it went back to normal beautiful Bellamy. But that for there was a moment, yeah, moment like she.
I have to say real quick, this is like the first time before we move on to six Degrees of some horror because Scott, fully, you've got some in that bag. But Lisa Koudro, really this is where she has a lot of material, and I'm like, I'm so used to seeing her as Phoebe that I had to keep being like, holy shit, that's Phoebe. If she's on the podium and she's being attacked by Governor Resten. She's running and she has to do this thing where like I was fifteen, I got pregnant, I gave you a baby.
For brilliant Yeah.
Yeah, I'm just like, wow.
I had no First of all, I don't remember any of that even happening when we were shooting, Like, don' I never worked with her, I don't think so. I don't really remember it I met either. It's nice to see her doing something like that.
Yeah, it's completely different from what we were used to seeing her.
Yeah, Okay, Giermo's six Degrees of Horror?
Do I even have to even say it? I can just Scott Foley was in Scream three and he played Roman the director Roman, which I'm assuming it's a homage to Roman Polanski. Perhaps maybe the name was Yeah, and not only were you in a Scream movie, but you were in a Scream movie directed by Wes Craven.
Doom tell us about it.
I think that was the last one he directed. Possibly, wasn't it.
I think it was. He might have done four, but I think it was one of the last ones. Yeah, and I actually worked with him again. You dam on a movie called Curse. Oh shit, wait, yes, there were two we shot that movie. They shot that movie twice. I only shot it once. But I still get residuals from it, even though I'm not in it at all. I had a big part, a bunch of stuff with Chris n Ricci. And who was the guy that anyway.
That Janka Jackson plays the guy?
He did? He was recast? Oh, it was someone else. First was a skeet. It wasn't skeet. It was I forget who it.
Was first, all of you guys.
And because I had done Scream, Bob Weinstein called me and was like, hey, we want you to do this other movie called Curse. West is going to direct that. He says you're great, and I was like great, And I got on the set and I worked a couple of weeks with oh and there was a scene with Scott Bao and me and Judy Greer and a.
Bunch of hairy a bunch of people were on the Santa Monica pier.
Anyway, going back to screen, Yes, my first feature film, I got it. Can I tell you ge I got a ton of shit for doing that movie.
Why what do you mean a ton of shit? Flack?
Yeah, like it wasn't good enough, or like.
It was like it was considered schlocky. Like I remember being back on season two or three of Felicity. We were just starting out and we had a press conference on set for some reason and all as actors were lined up and Scott Speedbman had just done he just done an all Be Played when Canada or something, and someone was like, it's really great you did that instead of instead of doing a Scream film. And I remember JJ turned to me, he.
Goes, oh, but that movie has has held up so much and the amount of people who come up to me still I just did a Broadway show and the amount of people who would wait at the door wanting me to sign Scream posters, Scream memorabilia, talk to me about Scream.
I'm so proud of it.
Now, Oh you should be. And you also worked with my old pal Parker Posi, who is my freaking brilliance in that movie. She's such a standout in.
That brilliant in life g she would grab me. We shot at this beautiful old house off Madelena Street, off Sunset in La Yeah, in Silver Lake, and it's this great old house that he used it for a bunch of filming, and we shot a bunch there. That was the mansion where it all happened, and she would in between scenes, she would take my hand and walk me down in the lawn and sit me down and read me poetry. And I was like, what is no way? This is bizarre. But she was the sweetest, nicest woman.
I love her so much. She used to invite me over to her apartment when we did Party Girl back in the day in the early nineties, to have a bad movie night, and she would play all these bad movies for me and we would just watch him and order Chinese food. And she's such a she's such a unique Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It was young. He was so very well, Oh my, so great yo.
But also answer me there was really quickly. Do you do you have a ghost face mask from the film?
You want to see it?
How much do you want for it? And can I see it? No? Let me see it? Can we see it? Can we see it? Can you believe that?
Here? Well? This episode also aired on October thirty. First, this is all very fucking Weird's amazing?
Is that? Yes?
Lines crossing?
Oh? Hold on, there's this?
Oh my god, is getting his fucking scream mask.
Jenny McCarthy was also in this movie. Horror fans are hardcore, hardcore bro. Yeah, yeah, I wish.
I was in one of those. I think it'd be fucking fun. I don't like watching them because I'm terrified, but I'd like to run around and scream and ship.
Sometimes it felt like we were doing many horror films on Scandal, right. Some of the stuff we did for teeth pulling scene felt like a horror film. Oh my god, Scott Foley is holding up the freaking ghost face mask from Scream three.
It's terrifying. Hold it's really scary. Oh my god.
Oh I understand, ear fly.
I cannot believe you have one of those? Does everybody who works on the movie get one?
They wouldn't let me take it, and I stole it.
You did, te And that's why Scott Poley is a badass. He does it. Yeah, he's just a little bit of a rebel, Scott.
They were very protected. They were very protective of it because they only had Obviously, they weren't like made, they weren't big commercially.
Right now they're all over the place.
Yeah, now they're all over the place. But this was there special because they're a thicker plastic and they have lined the eyeholes extra heavy so when the lights from the production couldn't see the eyes through them. So there's they're double lined so you can't really see through them. Very well.
Oh man, what a gem.
You have a gem right there to save forever. Do you have anything from Scandal?
Oh? I'm sure, yes, of course I do. I have a ton of stuff from Scandal.
Did Shonda give you some sort of gift that was very Jake Ballard?
I'm looking here, I have I have this from Scandal.
Yay, Oh my god, it's a.
Picture of everyone.
There's more Scandal shit over there. I have a ton of it's just memorabilia. But from Scandal I took I bought my entire wardrobe. You know that shit?
Oh yeah, yeah. Everything was got here that you you hads and all this shit that you could use for press that had all been tailored exactly to your fucking body.
They allowed you to take it. I mean to buy it.
I don't even remember they said when we wrapped, they said, ABC would like to gift you with one iconic Scandal piece of your wardrobe. And I was like one iconic you walk into the we got seven seasons there, one hundred plus episodes. You walk in there and there's a mile of clothes with Katie.
Quinn, with gir Mohart to see leather jackets. I'm not even kidding one hundred and fifty at least.
So I and I called I have my Asian call ABC, and I said, Scott wants to buy it. It's all tailored for him. It has his name on there, his character's name, and they're beautiful Gucci suits, Zania suits, Varvado's let kids, one hundred pairs of shoes. And I thought like, well, if I buy that, I'll never have to buy again. And they initially said one hundred thousand dollars. What I was like, get I was like, get out of here. And then we talked them down to twenty five and I was like, you know what, I'm not going to do it. And then they said five thousand dollars. You can have everything.
Right worth it.
So I took two trips in my pickup truck from Hidden Hills to Sunset Gower.
And that's probably the mart thing you freaking did. Dude, Well, you have clothes for years, I.
Have closed I had shoe boxes with the polaroids on the outside showing me what's in the box.
Oh my god, do you wear your all my pants?
Yeah, but all my pants have little holes in the back pocket for my mic.
Oh yeah care.
We will be back with more after the break. Talking about fashion moment of this episode, you got to go to a White House correspondent dinner as Olivia's date, right, and she is, oh, yeah, she's looking at him the whole time. His joke. Yeah, she betted his jokes. You're like such a little bitch baby on her arm. It's terrible. I feel so bad for you.
It fits because I was wearing such a little bitch babe. You see how short that jacket was.
I notice that.
You're a military what it was?
It wasn't white, it was military. The dark. So the dresses, yeah, the dresses, yo.
But Carrie's dress, Oh my gosh, when she's walking down the hall, when she's walking down the hall, make.
Her amazing sway. By the way, I wrote too in this episode, Olivia Pope has a walk in this episode and every episode with so much fucking swag and hip swaying.
It's incredible, But this walk has extra swag because of that dress.
Well, somehow that dress stays straight, but her shoulders all moving it like, it's amazing how that happens. It looks like.
It though. I wrote hot Scott walking in a cargo coat and taken your Chicago coat and.
A tight T shirt coat.
Like pectoral muscles, and then B six thirteen comes and takes you.
But that dress looked like she was wearing an origami piece, right, it looked like body ogami. But the designer of that dress is a dude named Ruben Singer Good, old Ruben Singer Good. But yeah, that dresses Singer.
Okay, wait before we we're going to talk about one other thing, and then I know you have to go. Was there any eating in this episode? Jake Ballard offers to take Olivia for burgers. Lots of wine was drank at the dinner, but not a single person on Scream takes a bite of anything.
Fuck that.
We love it's our favorite thing.
Ever, I'll tell you something. You guys have to know that anytime there's a scene that calls for eating, do not eat. I learned that very early on in my career doing a scene. It was either in Dawson s Creak or Felicity where I was eating cereal and they asked me what kind of cereal they wanted? Cereal I want, and I was like, Captain crunch. Come on, what do you mean? What kind of cereal do I want? Love Captain and I The first two bowls were great. You do nine ten takes different angles. I threw up. I don't know four or five times. You can't eat Captain Crunch anymore.
You can't eat Captain Crunch anymore.
You don't don't eat look like it, pick it up, pick the fore cup, put it down, talk, look around, think about it, move it around on your plate, cut it, get it, get out of here.
I hear you, Scott, I hear you. But but listen, man watching a show. I love Gilmore Girls and those two women listen. They're lovely actresses. Their whole relationship revolves around loving food. And those two don't take one bite of anything, and it's so frustrating. Their cups of coffee are like they're handling them like there's nothing in them.
Like you can't do it. Gee, you can't do it because you're not.
Your shooting And I guess thing you have to keep doing.
Yeah, you're shooting it from straight on and then this angle and then that angle, and you got to do it at the exact same time every time to match, because you know the script. He comes in and yells at you. Yes.
I remember Greg Henry had to eat jalapeno poppers in a scene on Scandal in Oba and he was regretting it, same thing you were saying, Scott, and he said he thought he was gonna he was so nauseous and bummed that he had to eat all that stuff. So I get it.
And if you do, there are times where you do have like it calls for, you know, like, oh, they sensuously eat whatever it is. There's a spit bucket right next to you. Don't sallow that. Get rid of it.
Yeah, by the way it goes also not only with eating, but was smoking because Adam did a finch your movie where they were smoking cigars and I said, listen to me, got it, roll it, smell it, whatever, don't you dare take a puff? And with him he does one hundred and fifty takes. Everybody was puking. It was really bad. Okay, wait, before we let you go, we've got some tweets of the time for this episode. I hope this is one of those times where people were writing mean, mean tweets about I.
Hope I want. Yeah, the meaner the better.
I feel like sometimes Quinn too. Sometimes the tweets were death threats to Quinn.
Yeah, we don't want that.
If she was if she was ever against Olivia, it was death threats. So I am sure when Olivia was going with Jake and not with Fits, I'm sure. Scott Foley's Twitter timeline was filled with some.
Hate Guillermo at Guillermo mke come on now. He tweets a picture of himself dressed as homeless Huck and it says not hagrid tribute to Guillermo Diaz hashtag homeless Huck from Scandal, hashtag happy Halloween at Carrie Washington's protector. Oh that's a dope picture.
It's a joke picture.
Oh.
This was also really cool. It was this episode aired on Halloween, so there's so many people, that's right, Yeah, as our characters for Halloween, Like we have full tweets of different offices that were copying like their whole group. Like somebody was Olivia Pope, someone was somebody was Quinn, somebody was Darby Abby so fucking I love all of you gladiators for doing that.
This other one. Listen at Mary Howard, our own Mary Howard at Mary Eats, that's her handle. She tweets that just another day at hashtag Scandal production meeting episode three ten with director Tom Verica and first ad Jeremiah, and Jeremiah is dressed as Homeless Hawk as well. He was amazing. I remember that day we.
Used to have on Halloween when we would shoot every year, we would have a costume contest, yes, where people dress up and you would get a contest and I think the winner got like either cash or something really fun. So obviously Jeremiah dressed up as Homeless Hawk covered in blood with like a huge hagrid Wig on yes at OsO brand New tweeted, oh its phone conversations just got to better and better, Like I live for those moments lol. Hashtag scandal, oh shit.
At Tara Thomas tweeted the show Scandal is doing nothing but giving side chicks confidence and boldness hashtag sad. There's a mean one. There's a man. She's like, why y'all shining the light on all these side chicks? That's sad. Now I get a girl. I get it, but listen, sometimes that side piece sometimes you need that piece.
Yes, we do sometimes sometimes I haven't had a side piece in so long, but it sounds fun. At Jimo and Williams, at Bellamy Young and at Carrie Washington are acting titans. The Presidential Suite scene was delicious, great work, ladies. Hashtag scandal that scene. We didn't mention it with Scott, but it was amazing. That's when Olivia is leaving the White House correspondence dinner and she's walking to the Presidential Suite. I think she's going to see Fits. She thinks they're going to have a late night hook up. And guess who's waiting for her there, Nellie, and she's come back to the White House. We need you.
I don't care if you're having sex with my husband. We need you back.
Yeah.
Yes.
Is there anything that all the gladiators can tune into to see all the fancy shit you're currently doing?
Yes, Oh my goodness, one of your shows is.
Coming out now?
Yeah?
Tell us where we can watch our beloved Jake Ballard play something else?
I do.
I have a show called the called The Girls on the Bus. It's going to be an HBO Max March fourteenth. I have been able to see all ten episodes. They sent them to me to screen. I'm not one of the girls on the bus, so I was like, see how it is. I don't know. I did. A friend of mine is the show runner, so I was like, yeah, dude, it looks like fun. I get to play a presidential hopeful. So I was like, maybe I can get to be more like Tony Goldwin. Right. But it's so good, you guys, this show is so so good.
Wait to watch it. It's I feel like it's right up my bully Max Max.
Okay, it's not HBO Max anymore. It's just Max.
Max's on the bus.
It's girls on the bus. Huge.
I love you. I'm going to text you.
Thank you so much, so much, Scott, thank you so much. This was awesome. In honor of Scott, fully, I'm about to go poop right after we wrap this episode because I really got to go. Thanks, she so in homage to him.
Next up, episode three oh six, titled it peace Out. Glad you guys body.
Thank you guys for joining us on Unpacking the Toolbox. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe, share with your friends, rate or leave us a review.
Scandal is executive produced by Sandy Bailey, Alex Alcea, Lauren Homan, Tyler Klang, and Gabrielle Collins. Our producer and editor is Vince de Johnny, with music by Chad Fisher.
Scandal is a production of ABC Signature, and you can follow along by rewatching Scandal on Hulu.
Unpacking the Toolbox is a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from Shondaland Audio, visit the iHeartRadio app or anywhere you subscribe to your favorite shows.
