To this day, Shondaland fans best remember Bellamy Young as the woman who played the feisty Mellie Grant in Shonda Rhimes’ critically acclaimed drama, Scandal.
The character was only supposed to appear in a handful of episodes, until the writers realized that the character was essential in telling the story between Olivia (Kerry Washington) and Fitz (Tony Goldwyn). When the show entered its second season, Young became a regular.
During the show’s run, Young’s Mellie would go on to have greater prominence in the storyline, even getting an episode centered on the character. And while she may have been introduced as a villain, Young would go on to rally the audience around Mellie with her powerful performance.
The show has, indeed, been one of the highlights of the actress’ long career. It is likely the reason for her impressive net worth.
What Did Bellamy Young Act In Before ‘Scandal’?
It’s safe to say that Young had been a performer her whole life, thanks to a mother who recognized her potential early on. “I’m adopted… and by an absolute random act of the universe the mother who raised me set out to find opportunities for me to perform because she thought it was in my DNA,” the actress explained during an interview with Capitol File.
Despite all the encouragement and a double degree in English and theater from Yale, however, Young still felt that Broadway was “unattainable for a girl from [Asheville,] North Carolina.”
When the actress graduated though, Young found herself during the national tour of Meet Me in St. Louis. This convinced her to move to New York and eventually perform on Broadway.
In her early acting years, the actress was cast in the production of The Life and “loved every minute of it!” At the age of 30, however, her agents told her that she already had to make her big Hollywood move before she misses her chance.
Young decided to take her shot, booking small roles in Law & Order, The Drew Carey Show, The X-Files, ER, NCIS, and The West Wing. Later on, the actress booked some film roles, most notably as Rachael Meade in Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible III.
Overall, Young was doing well, but she wasn’t exactly commanding attention. As she once wrote for The Hollywood Reporter, “I’d been lucky to work steadily (pilots, guest spots, recurring roles, films), but nothing that had popped.” Scandal changed that.
After Scandal, The Actress Took On Several TV And Film Roles
In fact, around the time that they were wrapping things up on Scandal, Young was already starting to take on other work too.
“We finished the last shot of Scandal, I slept in an empty house on the hard floor for 45 minutes, and then went to LAX and went to Dallas and did a pilot,” the actress recalled while speaking with Collider. “So, I knew what I was headed into, at least short term.” Young also filmed a pilot for a comedy, but ABC didn’t pick it up.
Not long after, Young landed roles in the Netflix holiday film, Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings and the series Whiskey Cavalier, reuniting her with Scandal co-star Scott Foley. The actress then starred in the dramedy Love & Debt.
Aside from these, Young was cast in Fox’s crime drama Prodigal Son, which features Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Sheen, and Lou Diamond Phillips. More recently, the actress landed a role in the Latinx drama Promised Land.
What Is Bellamy Young's Net Worth?
According to estimates, Young is now worth around $4 million following her time in Rhimes’ political drama. And although her salary from the series was never disclosed, one can assume that the actress’ salary was at par with Washington’s fee. This was reported to be at $250,000 per episode around the time that the show was on its sixth season.
In addition, it is likely that Young is still receiving residuals from the show since Scandal has been syndicated over the years. The series entered the syndication market early on, striking a deal with BET back in 2013. In 2018, it was announced that Scripps-owned cable network Bounce acquired the rights to all seven seasons of the show. And more recently, Hulu nabbed the streaming rights of the political drama from Netflix.
What Else Has Bellamy Been Up To?
Aside from acting, Young also entered a partnership with direct-to-patient tele-health business LifeMD, Inc just recently to promote hair loss treatment through the telemedicine brand Shapiro MD. The Scandal star, along with fellow actress Kate del Castillo, was announced as the company’s newest brand ambassador in 2021.
Meanwhile, Young has also been busy starring in the drama series Promised Land, which recently moved from ABC to Hulu. The final five episodes of its first season started streaming on March 1 2022.
But who knows, with Shonda Rimes diving back into new material, maybe she'll pencil Young in for another role in a hit show.
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