The tough and troubled character of Olivia Pope on ABC’s hit political drama “Scandal” is one of the the most powerful and fascinating female leads to come to TV in a long time. Despite this, Kerry Washington, the 38-year-old actress who plays Pope, does not see her character as anyone to look up to.

Speaking at the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills, Washington said, “I’ve always thought it was misguided when people tell me that Olivia is their role model.”

The actress primarily chalks this up to the fact her character is “having an affair with a married man, who is President of the United States. And a murderer.”

As quoted by TVLine, Washington did see that there were admirable qualities attached to the woman she portrays, admitting that she is very smart and has an amazing closet, but despite these attributes, “She is nobody’s role model.”

Of course, being created by TV phenomenon Shonda Rhimes (the brains behind such hit shows as “Grey's Anatomy” and “How to Get Away with Murder”), the character of Olivia was always meant to be a convoluted kind of heroine.

“There are no good guys and bad guys in Shondaland. You have three-dimensional, messy human beings. Nothing is perfect in Shondaland, people are real,” said Washington.

Sharing some info about what is coming up for the series in the fall, Rhimes said, “We are picking up almost pretty much where we left off. The world had been blown apart for everybody except Olivia and Fitz -- we left them on the Truman balcony doing some kissing. Cyrus no longer working in the White House… Mellie is no longer living in the White House, Jake said he was walking away… Quinn was thinking about killing Huck…. We pick up right there in that environment. and we see what happens next.”

When it comes to her various projects, there seems to be many possibilities set out before Rhimes, but one thing that is off the table is the possibility of Katherine Heigl returning as Izzie for a new season of “Grey’s Anatomy.”

“I’m done with that story,” said Rhimes as reported on TVLine. “I’ve turned that idea over in my mind a thousand times and thought about how it would go. And I don’t think so.”