Joe Morton Promoted to Series Regular on "Scandal"

Papa Pope is boosting his presence on “Scandal.”
The Shonda Rhimes drama has promoted Joe Morton from recurring to series regular, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Morton stars as Rowan (aka Eli Pope), the former head of black-ops group B613. He was revealed in the season two finale as Olivia Pope’s (Kerry Washington) father. The Broadway alum and former Tony nominee has had a recurring guest role since season two and won an Emmy in 2014 for the role.
The series briefly lost Morton last year after he booked a series regular role in TNT drama Proof and had a guest spot on Netflix’s Grace and Frankie. He returned to Scandal after Proof was canceled following its freshman run.
Morton becomes Scandal’s newest series regular and joins Portia de Rossi (Elizabeth North) who was promoted at the end of season four; and Cornelius Smith Jr., who guest starred last season as Marcus Walker and was brought in to be the show’s newest gladiator at Pope & Associates.
Morton recently won an NAACP Image Award as Best Supporting Actor for his role on “Scandal.”