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In the world of Hollywood, leading roles for Black actresses come a dime a dozen. So, when the role Olivia Pope began available, A-listers, D-listers and everyone in between came out for the opportunity.

In a recent interview with CocoaFab, starlet Gabrielle Union revealed that she too auctioned for the career-changing part.

“There’s the whole group of us who auditioned for “Scandal” that, not just fell in love with that project and Shonda (Rhimes), but the process, the level of respect that we were given even in the audition process,” she said. “It was like, is there ever gonna be another situation for you like that? ”

MUST READ: Stop Putting ‘Scandal’ On Hiatus + 4 Other Ridiculous Change.Org Petitions

Although she’s not able to call herself a “gladiator in a suit,” the Being Mary Jane actress said she couldn’t be happier for Kerry Washington’s success.

“Kerry with “Scandal” and “Django” and the whole world is like, Gladiator!” she said. “Now you hope that the time of the black man is coming. You want them to have their “Scandal” and their “Deception” and their “Being Mary Jane” and you can see black love and black dysfunction.”

Click through the slides to see 8 other Hollywood stars who were either turned down or rejected roles.

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For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.