Shonda Rhimes Is Obsessed with Idris Elba, Binges Orange Is the New Black

There are plenty of amazing things about working for Shonda Rhimes – a job on a hit TV show, unbelievably attractive love interests, a built-in primetime family – but for Kerry Washington, the job comes with one incredible perk in particular.

“I was talking to an actress who’s pregnant and really worried about telling her bosses, and I said, ‘Yeah, when I told my boss I was pregnant, she literally jumped up and down in my trailer,’ ” the Scandal star told Entertainment Weekly when she sat down with the magazine for their epic Shondaland cover story. “I don’t know if there’s a male showrunner who would do that.”

Of course, when you gather all of the stars of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder in one room, plenty of secrets are going to be spilled. Sure, all of the actors seem to be on much better terms with one another than their on-screen counterparts, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get just as much gossip.

Here are five of the best things we learned when the #TGIT casts and their fearless leader Rhimes came together for PEOPLE, Essence and EW.

1. Shonda Rhimes is "obsessed" with Idris Elba.
Though the mastermind behind ABC’s Thursday night line-up admitted that there are “a lot” of actors she’d like to work with one day, there was one name that rose above all the rest: Idris Elba. “We spend a lot of time talking about him on Grey’s right now because we’re all obsessed,” she revealed in a video interview for EW.com. Shonda Rhimes – she’s just like us!

RELATED VIDEO: Shonda Rhimes Isn’t Diversifying TV, She’s Normalizing It

2. Rhimes wishes she wrote Orange Is the New Black.

After revealing that being a TV writer leaves you with shockingly little time to actually watch any of the many amazing shows on air (the entire run of Masters of Sex is currently waiting for Rhimes on her DVR), Rhimes did note a few TV shows she’s found time to watch lately. “I’m really obsessed with Playing House right now, which I think is hilarious. A show that I absolutely wish that I had created and am obsessed with is Another Period on Comedy Central. I’m not that funny, but I think that show is boundlessly funny, I watch it constantly.”

And, naturally, Rhimes is just as likely to binge-watch Netflix as any other TV fanatic: “If I could have thought of that, I’d be, well, Jenji [Kohan, the show’s creator], but it’s an amazing show.”

3. People thought Grey’s Anatomy would end without McDreamy.
Even though most of us still haven’t fully recovered from Derek Shepherd’s death, Grey’s star Ellen Pompeo revealed that plenty of people thought that losing McDreamy meant the end of the road for the show itself. And, frankly, Pompeo thinks that reaction is more than a little sexist: “All of a sudden, Patrick [Dempsey] leaves,” she told EW, “and it’s like, ‘Oh my God, Meredith’s gonna get killed with Alzheimer’s! The show couldn’t possibly go on without the man!’ ”

RELATED VIDEO: Ellen Pompeo Speaks out on Patrick Dempsey’s Grey’s Anatomy Exit

4. Viola Davis is pushing Annalise Keating in a new (and "revolutionary") direction in season 2.

Think you know HTGAWM‘s protagonist, Annalise Keating? Think again! According to Davis, fans shouldn’t expect the no-nonsense attorney to be the exact same character she was in the hit drama’s first season. “I’m so tired of hearing people say, ‘No, we can’t have her say that because that’s not something she would say.’ ” Davis told EW about helping to push bring the character to new and unexpected places. “What if it is something she would say? What corridor can we go down for an entire season if she said that, if she did that? What new things can we discover? What values can we add that can therefore be revolutionary? I don’t want anyone putting any limits on me. I am tired of it. Because as a human being, there are times when I don’t know who the hell I am until the situation presents itself.”

5. There’s still plenty of trouble ahead for Olitz.
Olivia (Washington) choosing to be with Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) at the end of season 4 might mean she’s happy now – but the course of true love never did run smooth in Shondaland. “Olivia finds that every single thing about her life has changed in unexpected ways,” Rhimes teased about the upcoming season. However, the show’s creator was quick to warn us that’s not necessarily a good thing. After all, what would #TGIT be without a little bit of drama?