Khandi Alexander

I feel that the work that I have done in the comedy arena, is priceless in terms of what I learned, timing, everything that these incredibly talented performers were generous enough in teaching me.

I never get recognized. Most of the time, when people think they know me, they believe I'm a member of their family. And that's the way I like it. That's just fine.

On 'Scandal,' the majority of the cast, if not all of the cast, comes from theater, so it's a healthy environment. People come into work and actually go home to their families.

When you've worked as long as I have, which I'm truly grateful for, you go in and out of these different environments. Sometimes it's not so much fun or easy or healthy. Sometimes you're fighting a lot of things off-camera that have nothing to do with the work on-camera.

I never saw a consistent through-line of employment for black actresses. I was like, 'How are they supporting themselves?'