“Grey’s Anatomy” cast members and outgoing showrunner Krista Vernoff on Sunday shared a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the show’s new intern class and teased the trajectory of Season 19’s relationships.
The conversation took place during the “Grey’s Anatomy” panel at PaleyFest LA, held in Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre and moderated by Emmy nominee T.R. Knight — who portrayed Dr. George O’Malley on the show for 15 years. Besides Vernoff, the talk included cast members Chandra Wilson, James Pickens Jr., Kevin McKidd, Caterina Scorsone, Camilla Luddington, Kelly McCreary, Kim Raver, Jake Borelli, Chris Carmack, Anthony Hill, Alexis Floyd, Harry Shum Jr., Adelaide Kane, Midori Francis and Niko Terho. Debbie Allen, who stars and also serves as EP, was not in attendance despite being scheduled to appear.
PaleyFest attendees were treated to an advance screening of Thursday night’s episode, titled “Cowgirls Don’t Cry.” Airing April 6, the installment’s synopsis is as follows: “A bull rider shows up at Grey Sloan with severe injuries, forcing Maggie, Amelia, Owen and Blue to examine their own biases. Elsewhere, Simone can’t find anyone to be her maid of honor, and Mika takes drastic measures to pay down her student debt.”
Not discussed during the panel was the level of Ellen Pompeo’s involvement in the show next year. Pompeo’s character departed in the Feb. 23 episode, but she will continue to provide the voiceover at the beginning and end of each episodes, and she’ll also appear on the finale. Here are a few highlights from the panel:
The names of the new intern class members were built around the actors. During a Christmas party held for the “Grey’s Anatomy” writers room, co-executive producer Julie Wong made a log of the five different names that Vernoff ended up scrapping for the new intern class. “Here’s a true story that nobody knows, here you go Paley,” Vernoff began telling the audience.
“Every time a created character would come and do a casting call, I would watch and I would think ‘Oh, if that extraordinary actor can’t bring that character to life, it’s the wrong character.’ And in order to reinvent the character, I had to rename the character,” she said. “Those poor casting directors. So it was these actors who presented themselves, many of them did the audition, and I went, ‘Oh I see the character,’ and I renamed the character and revamped around the star power of those five.”
The showrunner added that it was “important” that the class — which includes Jules (Kane), Simone (Floyd), Blue (Shum Jr.), Mika (Francis) and Lucas (Terho) — felt “real and true and like underdogs” due to the privileges denied to them through their respective backgrounds.
The episode directors are show alums. Episode 13 marks Wilson’s 24th episode directing on the series. The actor, who has portrayed Dr. Bailey since Season 6, spoke of her experience learning to juggle the dual task of performing and helming the show — something many “Grey’s” alums in various roles have had to balance as well.
“It does take a bit of compartmentalizing in order to tell the story and figure out where Bailey fits in,” she said. “You’re always the director first, and then when it comes to blocking, I had to learn how to stop putting Bailey in the back of the scenes, so that I could watch on the little monitor. I had to learn how to say, ‘No, Bailey’s important in that scene. She needs to be in the middle of the room with everybody surrounding her.’”
The actor said Shum Jr. had shadowed her in the role as he moves forward into wanting to direct, adding that the show benefits from employing directors that hail from its cast and crew.
“Our director pool is made up of people that have been on our show, so whether you’re an actor or script supervisor or someone in editing or our writers, nobody knows the show better, and it’s been a treat to watch everyone step into different positions.”
A romantic relationship might in the cards for Jo and link. As devoted viewers of Season 19 know, “Grey’s” has long teased a romantic arc between Luddington’s Jo and Carmack’s link. The longtime best friends previously hooked up in Season 18, and it looks like a full-blown relationship may be in store soon.
“I think that this is the most important relationship in her life, other than the relationship with her kid because he’s known her for so long,” Luddington explained. “So I think there’s a dance going on right now of obviously not wanting to ruin that. She’s never had stability … This is her family, this is potentially who she could be with forever, and so I think a lot rests in that friendship with him.”
She continued later of Jo’s emotional arc, “This is what she really needs. In learning to love herself and do the work, she is realizing this is what she really deserves and this is what love really looks like, so it’s everything, but I don’t think she wants to risk it.”
For his part, Carmack added, “I think Jo and that friendship has gotten [link] a long way,” characterizing it as a “potential blooming romance,” which elicited enthusiastic cheers and shouts of agreement from the audience.
“Grey’s Anatomy” was recently renewed for a 20th season, with series executive producer Meg Marinis taking over as showrunner from Vernoff, who was announced to be stepping down from the series and its spinoff “Station 19” earlier this year. The renewal solidifies the show’s standing as the longest running primetime medical drama in TV history.
The Season 19 finale of “Grey’s Anatomy” will air on May 18.
