Oh snap! Shonda Rhimes admitted during a recent interview with Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore that she knows perfectly well how to handle an actor she isn’t a fan of.
“Have you ever killed off a character because you didn’t like the actor? And extra bonus points, who was it? Don’t even think about lying,” Wilmore asked the showrunner, who has created many of ABC’s hit Thursday dramas, including Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal.
“Yes, and I’m not naming names,” answered Rhimes, who has a new book out titled The Year of Yes.
Although she wouldn’t dish exactly which actor she got the boot, fans can easily speculate.
Patrick Dempsey was the latest actor whose character was killed off Grey’s, and prior to Dempsey’s exit, Scandal axed Columbus Short’s character. Short has since admitted that his struggle with drugs, namely cocaine, is to blame for his TV demise.
During TCAs, Rhimes said that killing off McDreamy wasn’t an easy choice. “We had a lot of discussions about it,” she explained. “It wasn’t easy or fun, it is never easy or fun. We’ve been working really hard for a long time together. We’re family. Those choices and those decisions are never easy for any of us.”
So which other characters have died on her various shows?
For starters, just from the long-running Grey’s alone, there’s Eric Dane’s Mark Sloane, Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Denny Duquette, T.R. Knight’s George O’Malley, and Chyler Leigh’s Little Grey, aka, Lexie. Scandal saw the demise of Dylan Minnette’s Jerry Grant Jr., and Grey’s spinoff Private Practice knocked off Chris Lowell’s William Parker.
We will let you decide who Rhimes may have been talking about!
