We saw how hard Kerry Washington and the Scandal team worked to hide Washington's baby bump during the filming of the show’s most recent season. They turned to every trick in the book to block off her character Olivia Pope's midsection, and some were downright hilarious. Now, in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actress said that it was such a challenging time that filming that third season of the series really broke her, not only because of her changing body, but because of the storyline as well.

"All of last season was a challenge for me, on a few levels. For one thing, I was going through this amazing physical transition, this physical journey of having a baby, that my character was not going through. And I work very physically. What I do is often grounded in the body. That meant I had to figure out how to be this woman while my instrument was changing and evolving every day. It was like seeing the keys on a piano jump around on a daily basis. It was tough for me to even maintain Olivia's walk because of the changes," Washington said.

"At the same time, everything I understood about Olivia unraveled because of the storylines," she continued. “The season really broke me. I'm a Type A actor who likes to have it all figured out going in, but suddenly I had no idea where this woman was going to go next. I had to jump in without everything being perfect. I felt like I had been in control playing the character, but it all got taken away from me last season. That meant my acting toolbox had to be upgraded. I had to trade in my screwdriver and hammer for a Black and Decker power tool."

Still, Washington, who is nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for the second year in a row, handled her work and entry into mommyhood with high honors, and we can't wait to have her and Olivia back in top form for season four, which premieres Thursday, September 25 on ABC.

To see if she'll nab an Emmy Award for her role, catch the live broadcast of the show when it airs Aug. 25 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
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 (Photo: Frazer Harrison/BET/Getty Images for BET)