Patrick Dempsey flashes his trademark McDreamy smile on the New York set of Made of Honor on Thursday. The actor is spending his summer hiatus playing a man who falls for an engaged woman in the romantic comedy.
Chandra Wilson wrangles interns as Dr. Miranda Bailey on Grey’s Anatomy, but at home she wrangles children. Three, to be exact! She and the brood shot a commercial for Folgers Gourmet Selections on May 31 and in between takes, she talked to Usmagazine.com about Grey’s, her character, and balancing her career with family life. Read on for excerpts:
On Grey’s getting a fresh start, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes:
“This year was a really emotional year, both on and off the set. Last year we came back and everybody’s character life was just in shambles. We had a season to get rid of that stuff and now it’s time to go forward.”
On if Isaiah Washington doesn’t return:
“We’ve got our core group of folks and that’s our family. Anytime a part of your family is not there, you’re going to feel that and feel that intensely. These characters have been established and they’re a part of the show and I just can’t imagine it without any of the present people.”
On her character, Bailey, not being named chief resident:
“I thought it was very fitting. She already has the clinic she is running and the chief told her she’s not delegating enough and she has too much on her plate. It’s not a belittling thing and not something that should be looked at as being picked over. It bruised her pride a little bit, but not to the extent of questioning herself and all that crap that happened at the beginning of season 3. Maybe she’ll take to heart what the chief is telling her, and pay as much attention to what’s happening at home as she’s does to her career. It’s a good wake up call for her, I think.”
Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd has likely said her last goodbyes at Seattle Grace Hospital.
Actress Kate Walsh, who will star in her own spinoff series, “Private Practice,” this fall, says her character has no loose ends to tie up with the angst-ridden doctors on “Grey’s Anatomy.” “I think I’m finished with ‘Grey’s’,” she said Monday during a visit to the city to promote her new show.
“My work is kind of done there … I had come to Seattle to save my marriage, that didn’t work. There’s really nothing left for me there except the job.”
And the job, of course, isn’t enough. After being turned down for the position of hospital chief on the “Grey’s Anatomy” season finale, Addison was unceremoniously told she needed a new life.
Next month, she’ll get one, as Walsh starts shooting “Private Practice,” which was introduced to viewers during a special two-hour episode of “Grey’s” earlier this year.
The brainchild of “Grey’s” creator Shonda Rhimes, the show is set at a private medical facility in Los Angeles and co-stars Tim Daly of “Wings” fame and Amy Brenneman of the longtime drama “Judging Amy.”
Though the Grey’s Anatomy finale left fans with lots of questions, at least one mystery appears to have been solved: T.R. Knight, a.k.a. the lovable George O’Malley, is expected to return as a series regular. Speculation has been swirling about his possible departure from Seattle Grace — not only because of what happened in the May 17 finale (George didn’t pass the intern exam!) but because of the incident earlier this season with co-star Isaiah Washington (who addressed him with a homophobic slur). According to one insider close to the negotiation, Knight has agreed to a new contract that will boost his per-episode salary to roughly $125,000 and give him a small piece of the show profits (pay hikes and profit points were also granted to many of Knight’s co-stars, including Patrick Dempsey, Ellen Pompeo, and Sandra Oh).
Still up in the air: the fate of Washington, whose character, the arrogant Preston Burke, appeared to flee Seattle in the finale. That said, the same insider hints that Washington will be back as a series regular (though without the boost in pay rewarded to his co-stars). ”A cliffhanger is meant to keep the audience in anticipation and intrigue until fall,” demurred a spokesman for ABC Television Studios, which produces Grey’s for ABC. Washington’s publicist also declined comment.
A make-up-less Katherine Heigl was spotted outside a hotel in Providence, Rhode Island, yesterday afternoon. Whoever she is talking to must be talking a lot.
Ellen Pompeo’s upcoming wedding won’t be a lavish production – but her co-stars might need to make some travel plans if they want to attend, she says.
“There will be no ‘big’ anything,” the Grey’s Anatomy star, 37, told People Magazine Saturday at the Chrysalis Butterfly Ball, a benefit for the homeless in Brentwood, Calif. “It’s going to be very small.”
Beyond that, she and record producer Chris Ivery, who got engaged in November, are keeping mum on the details, but Pompeo hinted that the ceremony won’t take place in Los Angeles: “We were thinking about going away and getting married.”
The whole Grey’s Anatomy cast seemed to be present at this year’s Chrysalis Butterfly Ball. Pictured above is Sara Ramirez, who said she found it “interesting” that the writers chose to end the season by leaving unclear the fate of T.R. Knight and Isaiah Washington.
Patrick Dempsey and his wife Jill Fink stayed close as they posed for photographers at the 6th Annual Chrysalis Butterfly Ball. As for the show, Dempsey said, “I would love for Derek and Meredith to have a healthy relationship.” “It got a little too depressing last year, and I think the writers need to lighten up and get back to the first season. That’s what people want to see, and we really need to listen to the fans.”
Ellen Pompeo’s upcoming wedding won’t be a lavish production – but her co-stars might need to make some travel plans if they want to attend, she says.
