MICHELLE Obama and Bellamy Young had a lot to talk about when they met earlier this year. Young, who's played Scandal's strong-willed and eloquent First Lady Mellie Grant since the show began in 2012, found herself being confronted by the real First Lady, to discuss the finale of the third series, which has already aired in the US.

"It was an utterly surreal moment," the actress says of meeting Mrs Obama, after she was invited alongside her Scandal co-star Tony Goldwyn, who plays President Fitzgerald Grant in the series, to the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner back in May.

"She met me with, 'Why did you..?'," Young says, laughing as she recalls being quizzed on her character's storylines by the president's wife. "I just hugged her, and then President Obama stuck his hand out to Tony and said, 'Mr President'.

"It was an unbelievably adorable, unbelievably surreal moment, which I'm glad I have a picture of, because I was in a complete brownout."

The series, which stars Kerry Washington as crisis manager Olivia Pope, who's tasked with protecting the public image of the political elite, has gained five Emmy nominations, one Golden Globe nod and one win for Outstanding Guest Actor (Dan Bucatinsky, who played James Novak, the husband of chief of staff Cyrus Beene).

"I can tell you that everything just gets crazy in the third series," explains Young. "The pace that we've set, the pitch that things are left at, everything we've built towards in the second series gets amplified and sort of nuclear, so it's going to be even more fun."

But while there wasn't much time to mull over the fun and drama with Mrs Obama, 44-year-old Young did take some pointers from the First Lady's manner.

"Our time together was brief, but just being in her presence was completely instructive, because she's so able to be completely in her femininity and completely in her power."

Young, who is best-known for her roles in Grey's Anatomy, CSI: Miami and Dirty Sexy Money, was born in North Carolina, the actress moved to New York after studying at the prestigious Yale University, to perform on Broadway.

"I'm a woman in her forties in Hollywood, so it's almost like winning the lottery that I should have a role this wonderful," she says. "But I also feel like the tide is turning. As stories are getting more complicated on television, people are having to realise that everyone, regardless of gender, is complicated and interesting. It's a privilege that Scandal is catching on internationally," says the actress, who recently won a Best Supporting Actress Critics' Choice Television Award for the role.

WHO'S WHO IN THE SCANDAL

  • Olivia Pope – Django Unchained actress Kerry Washington plays Olivia, a crisis manager and head of Pope & Associates.
  • President Fitzgerald 'Fitz' Grant – Played by Tony Goldwyn, who portrayed the villain in classic Patrick Swayze blockbuster Ghost, is married to Mellie but in love with Olivia.
  • Abby Whelan – Outspoken investigator Abby, played by Darby Stanchfield, is fiercely loyal to Olivia, who helped her through a tricky divorce.
  • Harrison Wright – Played by Columbus Short, litigator Harrison is Olivia's charming, fast-talking 'Gladiator in a suit'.
  • Cyrus Beene – Political animal Cyrus Beene, played by Jeff Perry, is the White House chief of staff and a former mentor of Olivia Pope.
  • Scandal, Sky Living, 9pm