I was just watching Inventing Anna and thinking that Shonda Rhimes is right up there with Ryan Murphy in terms of having a cadre of actors she likes to hire as much as possible — like Jeff Perry (Thatcher Grey, Cyrus on Scandal, and he’s in Anna) Kate Burton (Ellis Grey, a veep on Scandal, and also in Anna), Paul Adelstein (Scandal and Private Practice), Katie Lowes (Scandal, Anna), Rege-Jean Page (For the People and Bridgerton) and probably any number of guest stars and Cases of the Week. And now, it seems Shonda has funded the Rhimes Performing Arts Center into which the Debbie Allen Dance Academy will move and expand (Debbie being on Grey’s, and also one of its regular directors), making a facility they’re touting as the “leading African-American cultural center west of the Mississippi” — and part of that, incidentally, will also be an education space named after Chandra Wilson (our beloved Miranda Bailey). So yes, Shondaland is like Applebee’s: If you’re here, you’re family.
