It’s been 21 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy and even after an endless run of romances, deaths, medical breakthroughs and disasters, and all sorts of shocks and surprises – there is still a sense of awe from the cast when they arrive to work on set in the morning.
'Nobody Wants This' Renewed for Season 2 With New Showrunners
From the latest crop of actors who play the new interns, to the veteran cast members like Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr. who have been around since season one, each one still talks about their work and role with excitement and gratitude.
THR recently got an exclusive visit to the set of Grey’s Anatomy and chatted with cast members who often tossed around the phrase “get to” when describing their day-to-day, with a sincere feeling as if their job is a treat.
Wilson, who plays Dr. Miranda Bailey, says she did the first episode so she could pay her credit card bills and never imagined she’d “get to” play this role for so long. Wilson says what keeps Bailey alive for her is that she doesn’t claim ownership of her and enjoys learning along with the audience new things about her.
THR On Set talked to other cast members Anthony Hill, Jake Borelli, Alexis Floyd, Niko Terho, Midori Francis, Harry Shum Jr., Adelaide Kane and James Pickens Jr. about all things Grey , including their avid fanbase and what their characters mean to people, behind-the-scenes tidbits, table reads, what it’s like when Ellen Pompeo is on set and how long they think the show will last.
Chandra, let’s start with you. What was it like walking onto the set this season versus when you stepped on season way back in season one?
WILSON First day season one for me was stepping in and doing the “I have five rules” speech as the interns came out of the locker room and met me at the desk. None of us had met prior to that. Their call time was different from mine. So that was their first view of me. That was my introduction to dramatic series television.
So, fast forward, um, this season… I am still to this day in shock and awe to pull up to a parking space with my name on it (laughs) . It is very cool. I never take this thing for granted that we get to play with. It’s still new, it’s still fun. Story is still different. I still get the same butterflies clearly, when it’s time to do the work.
Could you have ever imagined back then that you would be doing this job 20 plus years later, growing this character and this role?
WILSON Goodness, no. There was no imagination for the show having a longevity or me being on the show with all this longevity. I did the first episode so that I could pay my credit card bills. (laughs) First season was a mid-season show, we only did 13 episodes, so that’s not gonna go. And then when we finally did get picked up, [I thought] three years, tops. Then in makeup, they told us this will be a six-year. And I set my mind on six years. So every day, every season, first day of the season, I say six years. And I did do that first day back this season, I said six years.
For the rest of the group, what was it like joining a show that was already so established, with a big history and fanbase behind it? Was it intimidating? Daunting? Exciting?
FLOYD All of the above! (laughs) . I wasn’t allowed to watch the show growing up. My mom said it was too grown up.
KANE My mom said the same thing!
FLOYD But I got the privilege of digesting this history in an all-in-one sitting. And that was a really special experience because the work and the care and the commitment is so vivid and remarkable and so specific to this show and this community. And then you step on set and it’s reflected in the people and in the atmosphere and in the artists that make the thing come alive. This is a very, very unique place to tell stories. I feel it very palpably every day.
HILL I immediately felt welcome here. My first episode was season 16, and that was back in 2019. [James Pickens Jr.] was the first person I met besides Kelly McCreary. And [he] immediately came over to me, asked me where I’m from. We talked about music and jazz from Kansas City, food and barbecue. I was like, man, I felt welcome. And that’s the whole cast all the way across the board.
PICKENS JR. Chandra Wilson [and I], we’re the two longest running cast members now, she’s really good at welcoming the new performers and kind of laying out the landscape. She has that kind of spirit.
HILL You’re great at it too.
Who in your personal lives were the most excited to see you join this cast?
TERHO Literally everybody I knew back home in Barbados! I was like, ‘I finally got a gig, guys!’ And they’re like freaking out that it’s Grey’s Anatomy . Most of them watched forever. I didn’t realize how expansive this show was until I went back home for the first time. Literally, everywhere I went, every someone was like, ‘Hey, thank you so much for being the first Caribbean person we’ve seen and can relate to on a big television series.’ And I was like, whoa, wow, this really reaches! It was touching.
SHUM JR. It’s like a badge of honor for a lot of people. Like people who watch the show have watched it since the very beginning. Maybe have watched it multiple times. When I run into like fans that, they say like, ‘I’ve stuck through it from the very beginning’ or ‘I’m going to watch it again! I’ve caught up.’ Or, ‘I’ve brought in friend…’ It’s passing down generations as well. It’s pretty amazing.
Can you walk us through what your typical work week looks like?
WILSON We are usually a nine-day episode, sometimes a 10. A table read date will get set. People will start to prep. Either the day of the table read or the day before we get a chance to take a look at the script. We still come together and do an actual table read at the table. The writers always let us know [to go to them] with any questions or comments. Ideas are encouraged. The sooner you get the ideas in the better.
From an actor’s standpoint, it feels really cool because everybody is really invested in the integrity of what’s said. We can track things that are said, ‘In season so and so episode so and so, I said this and I just want to make sure that tracks.’ So that part is really cool. But all these seasons in, every script I open up, I’m learning something new about Miranda Bailey.
SHUM JR. The table read, it’s exciting. It feels like a little bit like theater. Just getting to perform and figuring out what the characters are saying and, and what does it mean sometimes you don’t quite know yet, and then you’re figuring out through the reading.
TERHO It’s really cool that you get like, live reactions to things that are happening because you don’t get that on set. Get a laugh when you do something that’s funny or when, or cry when you see something that’s touching.
WILSON Because that’s the whole point is for the writers to see what’s landing.
BORELLI I feel like when I show up at the table read, I’m always worried something has changed. So I like flip very quickly through the table read and I’m like, ‘Okay! I’m, I’m alive. I’m still alive in this scene. Still alive in that scene.”
Dylan O'Brien Says His Safety Concerns on 'Maze Runner' Set "Were Not Listened to" Before Accident
In the time you’ve spent within your characters, have you grown protective of them?
WILSON So, I think one of the things that keeps Miranda Bailey alive for me is that I do not claim ownership of her whatsoever. I never use words like, “she would never do that” or “she would never say that.” I haven’t the slightest idea of what she’s going to do or say! I think my job is to take the thing that’s given to me and then figure it out. People do things out of character all the time. And it’s about, okay, so why are they acting that way? That’s what the job is, right. Lift the thing off the page. So I continue to say I don’t own her. She lives there and it’s my job to bring that to life instead of trying to make her into me.
FRANCIS I feel protective of my character, but in the sense of I love her and I believe she’s real! (laughs) I just want to be at my best every day that I get to play her. I’m here to bring this person to life.
Also, I was allowed to watch this in middle school! I watched it with my mom and I was absolutely blown away. And then meeting Chandra Wilson — I don’t always get starstruck, but because Bailey is so real to me from those formative memories of watching this show… It was like, holy crap, this is Dr. Bailey, and I’m now in a show with her!
PICKENS JR. I’ve been really blessed to play this character for as long as I have,. For me, it’s truly been a testament to the writing staff here. I’ve watched this character evolve over 21 seasons — his ups and downs, I’d like to think of him as being incredibly human through all this. We’ve taken this journey with him when he’s been victorious, when he’s been in valleys and had to climb himself back up. You know, he’s lost two wives, he’s had a brain aneurysm. He’s been electrocuted, he had a whole knee thing and through it all, he’s survived and managed to mentor these young interns and, you know, dispense wisdom every once in a while and navigate, uh, this, this, this incredible juggernaut called Grace Sloan Memorial.
What do you hear from fans about what your character means to them?
WILSON Mostly people want to say thank you. They want to tell you exactly how long they’ve been watching and how many times they’ve started over from the beginning.
We have been inside of people’s homes… it’s the biggest compliment for people to allow you to come in, they don’t have to think about anything else but what they’re seeing on TV. Forget about, you know, “Everybody be quiet!” because they’re watching their show. That’s how I am with soaps. (laughs)
PICKENS JR. I was at an event for Black Cardiologists Association and I gave out an honor. And a young man came up to me who was in his second year of med school and he told me that I was the impetus for him to attend medical school. He has a sister who had just had her second heart transplant and had a kidney transplant. And he said, “Your show got my sister through that.” And that’s happened on more than one occasion, where the impact of this show on our fans has gone beyond what we think it is. But yeah, I get a lot of “I’m a doctor because of this show.”
She doesn’t appear as often, but what is it like when Ellen Pompeo, aka Meredith Gray herself, is on set?
KANE It’s exciting when she’s here. And we know that she’s here because like the plants go up, our potted plants are out. Ellen’s here.
FRANCIS It hasn’t been a ton just because when we joined, she started phasing off as a series regular, but she’s been really kind to me and given me some great advice.
FLOYD That’s what I was going to say, too. She’s really taken time to find each of us and have a moment of personal empowerment. Which is huge because she doesn’t have to.
FRANCIS And she gave us succulents when we joined.
TERHO I think I’m the only one who still has theirs alive.
WILSON Once you’re in the Grey’s family, that’s just where you are. [Whether] alive, dead, divorced (laughs) . You’re just there. It’s coming home. You just fall right back into that rhythm.
Have to ask! Who is your favorite all-time Grey’s Anatomy couple?
FLOYD This is so obvious, but I love me some Meredith and Derek! That pilot episode — I mean, it is studied in classes. Truly. It is something special. Like the chemistry is kind of one of a kind.
TERHO I still go back to, one of my favorites for sure is Danny Duette and Izzy. I like that relationships so much. I don’t know. She literally did everything — ruined you know, all for him. I thought it was pretty endearing.
KANE Not necessarily a romantic relationship, but Meredith and Christina, that friendship. Christina storming in while she’s sitting on Derek’s lap making up with him and he’s like, really? She’s like “Yeah, yeah. Just give us like 10 minutes.” And kicks him out. A best friend like that — I feel like I have a version of that with my really good friends.
WILSON That’s the kind of the universal thing that happens with all the characters. Who’s your person? Right. And that extends out to the fan base… it’s about figuring out who’s your person.
It’s been 21 seasons – the fanbase is still devoted, the streaming ratings are still impressive. So how long do you see Grey’s continue going?
WILSON Don’t have the slightest idea. We show up, we put all of our stuff — everybody’s leaving everything right there on the floor. And until they tell us to reel it in, then there we go.
BORELLI I hope it keeps going another 20 years.
KANE It has its own life that we couldn’t even begin to guess at, to be honest.
WILSON Yeah, that’s right. Couldn’t tell you what it is. But we just love doing it.
Taylor Swift Donates $5M to Feeding America for Hurricane Relief, Org Says
Local News
Comments / 0