Shonda Rhimes looks back on her notorious ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ character deaths: ‘I can’t believe I did that’
From “Grey’s Anatomy” to “Scandal,” “Bridgerton” and everything in between, acclaimed producer and screenwriter Shonda Rhimes has filled her shows with countless beloved characters — but many fans know not to get too attached.
Rhimes appeared as a guest on Episode 2 of Craig Melvin’s brand new podcast, “Glass Half Full,” and shared why she’s not afraid to sacrifice a main character if it helps the story progress.
During their interview, which dropped March 10, the TODAY co-anchor said one aspect of Rhimes’ writing that he enjoys is that she “will kill off a character in a heartbeat.”
“You’ll love somebody. They disappear, and it’s like, that’s it,” Craig said.
Rhimes had a simple explanation for it.
“My job is to be the keeper of the story,” she said. “My job is not to be the keeper of the fans. My job is not to be the keeper of my friendships with actors. My job is to do what the story dictates.”
“That is really hard to do, but it’s also really important, because if that’s not where my mind is, then I’m not telling the best story I can,” she added.
The creative said that she cannot craft storylines based on what fans are asking for. Take the tortured romance between “Grey’s Anatomy” characters Meredith and Derek, portrayed by Ellen Pompeo and Patrick Dempsey, for example. Meredith and Derek finally found happiness with marriage and a family after five seasons of an on-again, off-again relationship. But In 2015, viewers were stunned when Dempsey’s character, a staple since the show began in 2005, was hit by a car and later died.
Rhimes knows fans envisioned Meredith and Derek being together forever. But, she argued, “that’d be a very boring show.”
So, McDreamy had to go.
While Rhimes stands behind all her creative decisions, she did admit to Craig that she is still shocked by some of the characters she’s killed off.
“I look back on some of the deaths, on some of the characters, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God. I can’t believe I did that,’” she said. “Now in perspective, but at the time it was what the story dictated to me so clearly that there was no other choice.”
The character deaths stick with fans just as much. She said that fans bring up their heartbreak all time.
“That happens to me at least three times a week. Still! Still! And I haven’t killed anybody in a long time,” she told Craig.
The deaths she gets the most grief about are Derek and another “Grey’s Anatomy” character George, who was played by T.R. Knight.
“There’s a lot of, ‘You traumatized me when you killed George. … That’s a big question constantly. And then, you know, there’s the other group of people who say, ‘That plane crash ruined my life,’” Rhimes recalled, referring to the intense Season 8 finale where two doctors died in a plane crash.
She cited neither as the most challenging character death to write, though.
“For me, it was when we killed Denny (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Like, I did what the story dictated, and I hated every minute of it for Izzie (Katherine Heigl) in (those) early seasons,” Rhimes shared, referring to “Grey’s Anatomy” Season 2’s tragic love story between Dr. Izzie Stevens and a patient. “But you do what you got to do for the story.”
Rhimes’ full interview with Craig for “Glass Half Full” is available to watch on YouTube now or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
