Shonda Rhymes

Shonda Rhimes changed who gets to be the centre of the story.

Before Shondaland, prime-time television still had a narrow idea of who could lead, who could desire, who could be brilliant, messy, powerful, difficult and loved.

Then came Grey’s Anatomy.

Then Scandal.

Then Bridgerton.

She built worlds where women were allowed to be complicated at scale. Doctors, fixers, queens, lovers, leaders, women making impossible choices in front of millions.

With Scandal, she put a Black woman at the centre of a major network drama for the first time in nearly four decades.

With Bridgerton, she turned period drama into a global fantasy where race, beauty and power could be imagined differently.

Few people have changed television by changing who gets seen as the main character.

Shonda did.

Photographed by Sane Seven for The Sunday Times cover story.