Shonda Rhimes on ‘Queen Charlotte,’ creating ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

In this week’s Sunday Sitdown, award-winning writer Shonda Rhimes tells Willie Geist about her fascination with the titular character of her new Netflix series “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.” Rhimes also shares how she created “Grey’s Anatomy.”
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#QueenCharlotte #GreysAnatomy #ShondaRhimes

[@mjbuie228]

Queen Charlotte is a major hit!! Everything Shonda touches is gold!!!❤❤

[@t7954]

A fact! I am addicted to this show😅

[@brittanycurtis8189]

This woman is a genius. Both Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte are amazing series…

[@phunchurchgirl]

and Inventing Anna

[@artibadiani4580]

I'm so glad Shonda didn't become a doctor or a lawyer because we would have never been subjected to her genius mind. I love her creativity. She's the Beyonce of television.

[@sandythompson5096]

One of the most important things she said: her parents played along with her imagin ation. The details about her mom letting her have the pantry as her domain (Mom having to knock on the door). That was inspirational.💞

[@phunchurchgirl]

As parents we want to ensure our children grow up to be productive adults that we often forget to let them be children.

[@julief634]

@@phunchurchgirl I never had that growing up which is why I never fully achieved my dream.

[@chelseashurmantine8153]

She really took over the world and I am happy to live in Shondaland

[@ayishaablake4397]

I love her. Please pay these people what they are worth with out the writers who can tell the stories stop being cheap. A world without creativity, imagination, and no guide can't create the leaders of tomorrow.

[@helenannleeshung9028]

She is a genius❤

[@NellieKAdaba]

True

[@FCLaney]

The interviewer showed interest in her path and work, that was nice!

[@crystalperez4684]

She doesn't get talked about enough. They blow up the actors in all the shows she created but she is the one that needs to be blown up. It's amazing that her greatness and genius isn't loudly celebrated. Even the actors always make it about them, but excuse me if she didn't create the project there would be no you. They owe their popularity and fame to the creators of the movies and the shows. Im just saying.

[@marriejames01]

I agree, somehow I didn’t know she created Greys Anatomy. I heard about the other shows.

[@kikaykimy]

I was looking forward to seeing Queen Charlotte ever since it was announced because I like her quirky character in Bridgerton. I binged it in one day upon release and I was so emotional I cried many times coz they really did a great job in portraying the characters and the chemistry between Queen Charlotte and King George, their love story is so touching! I also love the silent acknowledgement between Lady Danbury and Violet in the last episode. I didn't know I would love Bridgerton when I first started watching it, I was so surprise at how good it was for me. And with Queen Charlotte, expectations exceeded! Thanks for creating this show!

[@rexaj4002]

QUEEN 😍😍 Grey's Anatomy is part of American pop culture history, and up there with the greatest iconic American TV of all time like "Dallas" etc, watched and loved all over the world. She's a national treasure!

[@taylakurner]

She's so inspiring. When I become a writer for television, I hope to be able to have her as a mentor :)

[@80amara]

This woman is a goddess. She taught me what love is❤

[@justjoan4010]

Ms. Rhimes, you never ceases to stop wowing me. Great interview, Willie. Really enjoyed you.

[@juliuskitty2426]

The Writers are the most important ingredient for every play, tv show or film. Pay them what they deserve!

[@OfficiallyEvita]

Bridgerton & Queen Charlotte are amazing! Queen Charlotte has me swooning and rewatching

[@6468May]

I love her shows

[@sheiliawilliams345]

QUEEN CHARLOTTE!!!! UNDENIABLY SPECTACULAR!!! Thanks Shonda for all you do. We can't wait to see what's next.👏👏

[@myajt]

Queen Charlotte is so good!

[@wwr71]

Shonda, I thoroughly enjoyed Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte!! The storyline took me thru soooo many emotions and it made me see the world of royals differently. You are truly a gifted lady. Continue to walk in your gift!

[@mizsab365]

Shonda is such an inspiration and an excellent visionary. Seeing Grey's, Scandal and HTGAWM in this clips bring tears to my eyes and goosebumps to my skin because she DID THAT!

[@gemelwalters2942]

I don't really watch these kind of shows but I can appreciate that there are ppl like her behind the camera. Very inspirational

[@madgemackles4337]

I’m obsessed with her and I just saw QC and it was amazing

[@jooo-cfroot8281]

I hardly ever watched tv…used it occasionally for sound….. That all changed when I was introduced to Shondaland ❤

[@sherlyb4705]

Thank you so much Shonda for this treasure that is Queen Charlotte.

[@anonymouscontent3644]

Queen Shonda❤

[@lorraineslife]

I didn’t watch bridgerton but I watched queen charlotte 2 days ago which I loved…. which encouraged me to watch bridgerton

[@TheMyshine09]

An amazing emotional rollercoaster..I loved every minute ❤

[@fashionsbychar]

She’s my inspiration ❤

[@adelaferreira4575]

Wow what a career,I liked and watched every show she has written or produced ,so happy for a woman that has achieved so much power thanks to her talents ,bravo Shonda Rhimes !

[@ibpr4170]

Queen Charlotte is soo good!! Y’all gonna be like who’s cutting onions😭😭

[@irises3724]

WE WANT BRIDGERTON SEASON 3 NOW!

[@user-nubiangoddess]

She's a phenomenal woman ..

[@britneyn9469]

Thank you Shanda you have made my dream come true with this new show!

[@nguimenistephanie]

This woman is simply incredible 🤌🏾❤️

[@chafrajayfra32]

I love Shonda and definitely Shondaland. Keep being a role model. ❤

[@chanellsmith3204]

I have put on my dream board to meet, talk and gleem from my fellow USC Alumni, Shondra Rhimes ✌️

[@Its_ReneeNicole]

Love her!!!❤️❤️❤️

[@michaelcain9324]

She’s incredible. ❤

[@flyempressthelightworker2496]

She is amazing 🫶🏼👑🥰

[@chafrajayfra32]

What’s in the water in Chicago, Shonda, Oprah, and Michelle Obama. Woman Excellence at its finest.

[@enough_about_me]

The content of her characters ❤

[@sandragilmore7716]

Thank you for your service to your awaiting public!! You are truly a legend and a hero of writing the best movies ever!!

[@kiwi07050kr]

Truly gifted

[@crystalgay3590]

Mashonda rhymes I am 63 years old out of all the years of my watching movies since I’ve been five years old, I have never seen such a beautiful love story that you have written I love that you took from facts and made a fiction and I wish that this would be the width of where the future would be, where we would have mixed races and living together I just really admire you and the way you write your stories and your selection of actor and actresses India and Corey are brilliant very interesting name to watch in the chemistry. I have fallen in love with both of them. Thank you so much for entertaining the future what could possibly be thank you.

[@Marley4ChristJesus]

Brilliant and Inspiring! Blessings Shonda!

[@ThePajamaMomma]

Thank you..... so refreshing to see positive news!

[@anight8661]

Amazing mind, I love her work.

[@martini2822]

I didn’t know she was from Chicago!!! WoooWoooo🎉

[@sandythompson5096]

@FClaney: You are so right. We ca tell when interviewers don't know the subject or material. Will is always prepared and his questions reflect interest. Very pleasant, right down to the tea and macaons.

[@BlackNella]

A true Icon.

[@annamc8228]

She looks great💖

[@l2sunshine173]

I am addicted to her work❤❤❤😊

[@truegrit7697]

It's so wonderful to dive into and get lost in the Bridgerton series! ❤ I find myself talking with a British accent after watching them 😉

[@julief634]

Shonda is so inspirational. Love her!

[@tshepangphawe8350]

Shonda! The G.O.A.T!!!!

[@cristeanhightower2635]

A true visionary...Congratulations on all of your accomplishments

[@pkass2895]

Shonda Rhimes is brilliant! I love her work-Scandal, Gray’s Anatomy, HTGAWM, and now Bridgerton. She creates interesting, vulnerable, sometimes greedy-in short real-characters. Kudos to her for all her work.

[@xeik7482]

Wow!!

[@MD-jw6lj]

If you haven't watched Queen Charlotte, please do. It's the best bridgerton series thus far.

[@michael-bn6jg]

Brilliant woman.

[@julianaamericaine7448]

She is so brillant !!!

[@awakewarriors119]

I ❤ love Queen Charlotte and her man. I love love love the dances. 🎉 Yeah Queen Shonda!

[@clarangakoana2634]

Ok I watched queen charlotte now I will make a u turn and watch Bridgeton cause wow this woman is a phenomenal storyteller

[@jamesbarbatano6016]

I’m not much of a tea drinker, but I’d like to watch these someday.

[@sherronnelson9110]

Sandra looks fantastic

[@jcr1382]

I hope she keeps writing.

[@debbieogunbayo5308]

Shonda👏👏

[@SoftNoire]

Genius and Excellence

[@cewe2003]

I love Shonada Rimes and have watched everything she has created (except Grey’s haha). Bridgetown isn’t my cup of tea but I just may give it a go knowing that Shonda is the creator behind it.😊

[@lexaneli]

Wow! I didn't know Shonda created Queen Charlotte!

[@sandythompson5096]

Queen Charlotte is not in the Bridgerton Books. She was added to series 1 & 2. Based on a real person of that era, she was an immediate fan favorite, hence this prequel so see how she came to be queen.

[@Redservasian]

I loved Scandal and Private Practice. Didn’t realize they were Shonda shows.

[@MatthiasHamilton]

SEASON 2 PLEASE

[@ephecarrey5177]

Wow

[@DamolaKayode]

❤❤❤❤

[@theresadavidsson7959]

❤

[@fabbehn0190]

I love the fact that they told the story of Queen Charlotte not only living be being BLACK!

[@Msy.chrissy]

She is top tier

[@Danny-fs1hk]

Chicago’s own (from the South Suburbs) Shonda Rhimes!

[@rockisreality861]

The paragon speaks!

[@kalfn95]

her mind.. must be studied..

[@ogone1465]

When is the other Bridgerton premiering

[@suzygirl1843]

It can't top this one. She put her heart and soul into it

[@de1738]

🎉❤

[@bridgetteking9618]

I desperately want her to make a series based on Beverly jenkins historical romance novels just as she did The Bridgerton

[@musicartlover963]

Do it Ms. Bridgetteking9618 do it!!!! I absolutely love love Beverly Jenkins series especially the ones about the lady pirates ans old west

[@JaniceCarter-ws7lu]

I wonder what shes going to come out with next❤

[@sjohnson65456]

Why are the REAL questions never asked?? HOW does a nobody write a movie for Britney at her peak, how do you send your show to the right people? How in general??

[@ama4046]

The short answer is to put yourself in situations where you can make connections to the right people. Her going to school at USC - the University of California in Los Angeles put her in an environment to be near film writers, producers, and (importantly for her) agents. She got her agent because that agent knew that that school produced certain types of writers. Then Shonda wrote and gave her writing to the agent who then sold it. It was cast - afterward. They couldn't have known beforehand that Britteny would be cast. But an LA location with a script featuring actresses the age of Britteny at the time increases the odds ... It's not magic. It's a series of steps that place you in the right location, to meet the right people, which then increases your odds of success. * I'm a therapist now. But I used to be an actress with agents. That world is all about who you know. And most importantly if you are someone who doesn't know anyone and isn't near them- utilize the avenues that have been created to get people who lack connections in the door. ABC has a writers program and an actors program. Google 'ABC writers program', The major networks have similar things.

[@homidjohn]

Now can y'all please release Joe Scarborough's Morning Joe interview with Shonda Rhimes in full???

[@lej7898]

I wish she could find a way to bring back Still Star-Crossed

[@shiromithuraiaiyah6482]

“ there are worst fate than marrying the king of England.” Say it to Princess Diana.

[@c.cheeves6356]

How to get away with Murder was my show...Scandal as well. I will try Queen Charlotte

[@adetolaonisemo4220]

Shonda is a legit

[@nicoleplumley4094]

I actually prefer the old Greys Anatomy 🤷‍♀️

[@raphaelcollins1266]

People only realizing this woman bcos of bridgeton. Watch how to get away with murder" orange is the new black, my God she's so talented

[@LamRashon]

Bring back Scandal

[@MANDEE7962]

Bridgetown vibes lol

[@michellec5407]

Actually it isnt the longest running medical series. Its the second ER is the first!

[@kikiwest2001]

No it is Grey. Considering it’s still on.

[@Bridget2460]

She didn't say she has bad days she said she wrote something that's not good. Hat when journalist twist the interviewers words around to appease their audience.

[@CC-si3cr]

Once again the burning question is never answered on how does one become a writer. I'm sitting @ home in my pajamas writing a tv show, how do I get it into the hands of the president of programming @ ABC or Netflix? How do you get the phone call, meeting, and a deal? How do you make sure someone else isn't given credit for your idea? When is someone going to connect those dots? Maybe they have already been connected. I do not follow S. Rhimes.

[@cocoapeach]

She went to USC. University of Southern California. Location and meeting people and establishing connections in the business is a big part of it. She didn’t just stay in her bedroom in Chicago. And nowadays you need to film your stuff yourself and establish a social media presence so that people can find you. That’s what Issa Rae did. And again, she was also already in Los Angeles.

[@thezu9250]

I mean she’s written about her life.

[@corneliuswhite5139]

I don't think it's no coincidence that the actress that plays younger Queen Charlotte resembles Beyonce's daughter Blue Ivy.

[@angelabracey8696]

Put some respect on her name!!