Leading into the table read for its season 3 premiere episode, Scandal star Kerry Washington talked on Thursday about her approach tackling her character Olivia Pope and her Emmy nominatons.

The show's cast had their first table read for the new season on Thursday, and Washington was eager to get back to work. She admitted to Entertainment Weekly that going into the read she had no idea what to expect from the script, with details being kept secret until the cast actually sat down together.

"I'm really excited to read the script. We're all dying inside with anticipation. Just, like, who will be at the table read?" she said. "Will Scott Foley [who was made a series regular] be at the table read, or will he not be at the table read because his character is in the hole for the whole first episode? Will Joe Morton be at the table read as my dad, or no? Where do we start? We have no clue. So that's super exciting."

Scandal received two Emmy nominations when the names were announced on Wednesday: one for lead actress Washington (who plays fixer/presidential mistress Olivia Pope) and one for guest actor Dan Bucatinsky (Cyrus Beene's husband James Novack). Speaking about her nomination, Washington said she cannot take all the credit. She called the nod, "a reflection of this cast, how we inspire each other and how we elevate each other."

Her approach to work is not about thinking how a project will be received by voters or critics, she told the publication. The actress simply focuses on putting forth her best performance and not worrying about what is not in her control - such as how it will be received.

"I don't approach the work or the life of the work from the perspective of, like, what are voters gonna think? Or, what are critics gonna think? I just can't," she said. "Once you try to please a specific perspective or audience, for me, it gets in the way of the work. The work is telling the story, and that's what you have to do: Tell the story in the best way possible to serve the creative vision and to serve the story."

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