Grey’s Anatomy: this character that Shonda Rhimes would like to resuscitate

In 2015, season 11 of Grey’s Anatomy ended with the disappearance of Dr Mamour, embodied for a decade by Patrick Dempsey. Over the years, behind the scenes, the atmosphere had deteriorated, according in particular to the revelations of the book by author Lynette Rice How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy of which the HollywoodReporter had published the crispest extracts. “He kind of terrorized the crews on set. Some actors felt stress and anxiety because of him. He had a kind of grip on the setwhere he knew he could stop filming and scare people“, revealed executive producer James D. Parriott. Before adding: “I think he was just fed up with the show. He didn’t like the inconvenience of coming to work every day. He and Shonda (Rhimes, the director of the series, editor’s note) were tearing each other apart.“

The behavior of Patrick Dempsey left a bad memory

According to the book, the show’s other star, Ellen Pompeo, couldn’t stand his on-set behavior anymore. “It’s ten months, fifteen hours a day. Doing this for eleven years is a challenge, but you have to be grateful, because you are well remunerated, so you can’t really complain, because you really don’t have the right to. You have no control over your schedule, you have to be flexible”recognized Patrick Dempsey in the book. “It was hard to say no to all that money. How can you say no to that?“, wondered the interpreter of Dr. Mamour. A flagship character that Shonda Rhimes killed, which she does not seem to regret. On January 13, 2023, the program’s director indulged in a series of questions and answers on her Instagram account where fans asked her: “If you could bring a character back into Grey’s Anatomywho would it be?” George O’Malleyreplied without hesitation the creator of the series.

A long-awaited comeback from George O’Malley (TR Knight)

“If I could bring back one character, it would be George! I love George very much, and I miss him too much!“said Shonda Rhimes. “He was a very beautiful character, very funny! The adorable and incredible George”she continued. “George Loves You”, replied his interpreter TR Knight. A happy ending more than a decade after his character was killed off on the show he left in 2009. “My experience in the first four seasons has proven to me that I couldn’t trust the responses from the production when I was asking about my character“had at the time declared the actor to Entertainment Weekly. Two years before his departure from the series, it was his playing partner Isaiah Washington (Preston Burke) who had left Grey’s Anatomy after making homophobic remarks about him. “Shonda Rhimes was embarrassed that I came out as gay right after the incident”had assured TR Knight when leaving the program, which is still available on Disney +.

Article written in collaboration with 6Medias