Sarah Drew may no longer be saving lives in the Grey-Sloan Memorial trauma center, but she still feels very connected to her Grey’s Anatomy character, April Kepner.
“She’s part of me and she’ll always be part of me, you know? She’s lived kind of inside [my] skin for nine months of the year for nine years, so yeah, she does feel like part of me,” Drew, 38, who was fired from the hit medical drama in May after season 14 ended, exclusively told Us Weekly at Lifetime’s “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” Christmas Movie Stars event at the Grove in Los Angeles on Wednesday, November 14. “But I really do feel like I got to say goodbye to her in a really healthy way. I feel like I”m onto the next. I feel like it was a beautiful season of my life and I’m so thankful for it in very way and I’m just excited about the future now.”
In October, Drew revealed to Us that she hasn’t been watching the ABC show since her character’s departure: “It’s a little painful to go and watch your family move on without you, but I wish everybody the best and I know they’re having a wonderful time.”
Drew is now focused on the future, which includes her upcoming Lifetime flick, Christmas Pen Pals, a concept that she’s pretty familiar with. “[My husband Peter Lanfer] and I worked at a camp together and he started writing me handwritten letters after the camp,” she told Us. “We lived across the country from each other so it was all through handwritten letters and in a letter he asked me for my email dress, and in an email he asked for my phone number and then we started calling and our first date was eight months after we started writing letters to one another. It’s very romantic.”
The Everwood alum and Lanfer tied the knot in 2002 and share son Micah, 6, and daughter Hannah, 3. Although they’re busy with parenting duties, the duo are still committed to making time for one another. “We have two little kids, so most date nights for us is just getting out of the house and going out to dinner and having a nice bottle of wine,” Drew dished to Us. “We love going to eat at different kinds of places and try[ing] really fun cuisines.”
With reporting by Kayley Stumpe
