The Cast of 'Grey's Anatomy' Scrubs in and Comes Clean
Season two sure had plenty of romance. Meredith hooked up with George, Dr. McDreamy and a vet named Finn. George moved on with Callie, Izzy ditched Alex for a patient named Denny and Christina settled down with Dr. Burke.
With all these hookups and breakups, when do the hot docs find time to practice medicine?
Don't worry, there were plenty of engrossing medical scenes in season two, including the explosive two-part bomb episode that aired post-Super Bowl and made the show a ratings juggernaut. Enough so that this season, 'Grey's' is now up against 'CSI' on Thursdays at 9PM.
In interviews with AOL Television editor Sean Doorly, the men and women of Seattle Grace chatted about their most difficult moments from season two, what they admire about their characters and their thoughts on why the show is so popular. Read on, then check out season two on DVD to see what you have been missing.
What do you admire
most about your character?
Ellen Pompeo (Dr. Meredith Grey): I admire that she has book smarts, just
no emotional smarts.
Chandra Wilson (Dr. Miranda Bailey): She’s as human as she can possibly
be and she’s trying to figure out how to make this thing work. How
does she continue on her professional journey? She has this new family,
this new thing that she has to maneuver and figure out where it fits in.
And sometimes she’s going to do really well with it and sometimes
she’s going to suck.
James Pickens Jr. (Dr. Richard Webber): He’s incredibly human. I think he is so human that he has to fight not to let that humanness get in the way of what he does. He is flawed like everyone else in the cast, but at the end of the day, his mission is to turn out the best surgeons he can. If he has to kick butt he’ll do it, but he has special affection for all of them. He wants to see them all succeed. But at the end of the day, after all the anxiety attacks, he’s able to land squarely on his feet and ready to greet the next day.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Denny Duquette): He’s a real stand-up guy. He’s sick and he has a sense of humor through all of it. I was always amazed at the sense of humor he had even on the worst days. I admired him for that. I would like to be Denny. I strive to be Denny, without the heart condition.
What was the most
difficult moment for your character in season 2?
Ellen Pompeo: I think there were a lot of difficult scenes in the Super
Bowl episode. I didn’t really have any experience with that level
of fear, so I was self-conscious about being able to portray that truthfully.
I think that was one of the hardest moments.
Chandra Wilson: Wow, that’s huge question! You know Bailey would say, "Oh giving birth, but no, it wasn’t that -- that was OK." But it's fun to play crazy. There was an episode not long ago, where Bailey didn’t have child care that day, so she just showed up to work anyway and had to pass the baby off to Christina.
Isaiah Washington (Dr. Preston Burke): I think for all of us it was very difficult shooting the Super Bowl episode only because of the intensity of what we all had to portray as if this was literally last day of your life. The pressure of knowing that we’re going to get our shot win lose or draw. Hoping that we come up to the plate, to the bat, and apparently, we knocked it out of the park. And that is the one episode I would like to see uncut, because I know a lot was taken out of each part. So I would be curious to see all of it.
Justin Chambers (Dr. Alex Karev): I think Alex is coming to terms with love. He can’t go that deep, it just hurts too much. So his way is to get laid as much as he can. It makes him an interesting character to play because he’s got a lot of demons, but he tries to play it cool and stoic. As you watch the show, as with all these characters, the more you mess with them, the more interesting they become.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan: I think it was probably my last day at work. I like the character, I like the people and I really didn’t want to die.
Kate Burton (Ellis Grey): I think the two difficult moments are the two moments of recognition. One is where I’m kissing Richard and then I pull back and realize this is not right. The other is when I recognize my daughter after giving her such an incredibly hard time and then I recognize her as a woman and not as a little girl.
What was your favorite
moment from last season?
James Pickens Jr.: That would have to be the bomb episode. It was, without
fear of sounding biased, probably one of the best nights of TV I’ve
seen in a long time. It had everything. I was proud to be on it.
What do you think
makes the show so popular?
Ellen Pompeo: I think there are a few reasons. I think the writing is
fantastic. I think the actors are all fantastic and everyone has a good
time doing the show. I think our chemistry is something that adds a tremendous
amount to the show. We all get along and we’re having fun and I think
people feel that.
Justin Chambers Justin Chambers: I think a lot of interesting things make this show work such as diversity in the cast. It’s a "dramedy" -- there’s a lot of fun and a lot of sadness when you have life and death like it is in a hospital. You do have a lot of room for great drama. And the style that [show creator] Shonda Rhimes has brought to the show and the actors are just wonderful. It’s just a good hour of television. The audience showed up, the critics responded and we’ll just keep doing it. We let people forget their problems for an hour and they can just watch our problems.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan: I just think the writing is so good. The writers have created characters that are very real to all of us. I was a big fan of the show before I was even on it and I thought then the characters all have great stories. It’s real people. It’s not a procedural show, you actually get to know these people and invest feelings in them. So I think that’s what makes things stand out.
Chandra Wilson What
are you looking forward to in season three?
Chandra Wilson: I guess the way that we work ourselves out of the mess
that we left in the most human and humane way possible. And it’s
going to show great things about everyone and it’s going to show
really messed up things about everyone.
James Pickens Jr.: I think more of the same. Hopefully, if they stay on the same path they have for the last two seasons -- great writing, making it sexy, making it provocative and making it most of all entertaining. Keeping that same voice that audiences have been listening to and responding with and the same faces that they connect with, I think we’ll be fine.
How is your character
different from you personally?
Justin Chambers: I’m a guy who probably doesn’t need to finish
first. I need to finish, but I don’t need to finish first. I’m
going to get there late. I’m more secure with myself in different
ways. I’m definitely a little more laid back than Alex is. He’s
smarter, even though he doesn’t act it. I’m wiser, but he’s
more academic.
What do you hope
happens to your character by the series finale years from now?
Chandra Wilson: Wow! That she would have taken over. She’ll be paid!
Everyone else would be under her and she won’t give up that position.
How do you prepare
for the role?
Kate Burton: I don’t actually. I really try to just stay in the moment.
I try not to over prepare or over think it. One of the worst things about
being in the theater is we have a tendency to want to figure it all out
and I can’t do that with this part. Shonda’s written it so brilliantly
that I just have to take it one-step at a time.
Do you prefer television
or the theater?
Kate Burton: I love both. I love in the theater that there’s this
total cooperation with the audience, but so is television I’m discovering.
Especially this show. I’ve done a lot of shows. I’ve done 'The
Practice,' 'Law & Order,' a lot of lawyers, but just in the last five
years I’ve started to play truly interesting characters on TV and
there’s something that is communicated with that. People are coming
up to me saying, 'Oh my God, it’s our family.' You can’t put
a price on how important that is to connect with people.