Grey's Anatomy actor McSteamy honestly reflects on being 'let go' of the show

Summary

• Eric Dane discusses his departure from
  Grey's Anatomy
  attributing it to being ”
  let go
  ” and growing struggles with drug addiction.
• McSteamy's departure from the show had a significant impact on the
  Grey's Anatomy
  universe, with lasting effects on characters and plots.
• Despite personal challenges, Dane's character Mark Sloan had a meaningful final arc, leaving a lasting impression on fans and the show's interconnected universe.

A little over a decade after his departure from the show, Eric Dane is candidly reflecting on why he was written out of the series. Grey's Anatomy. After an appearance in Season 2, Dane became a series regular in Season 3 of the Shonda Rhimes-created medical drama, starring as plastic surgeon Mark Sloan, who became better known by the nickname McSteamy over time. as the series progressed. After five well-received seasons as the character, McSteamy was written out of the series in season 9, with the first two episodes showing his death after the Grey's Anatomy The plane crash from the season 8 finale that also killed Chyler Leigh's Lexie Grey.

Although various reasons have been given for his departure from the show, Dane is now telling his side of the story behind his Grey's Anatomy departure on the latest episode of Dax Shepard's Armchair expert podcast. The McSteamy actor was very candid in his thoughts on why he left the medical drama, expressing his belief that he was “let go“, despite some reports of budget cuts forcing the show's cast to be reduced, and that the network was ultimately concerned about her growing struggles with drug addiction. See what Dane explained below:

I think I was fired. They didn't let me go for that reason, although it didn't help. I was starting to become, like most actors who have spent a long time on a show, very expensive for the network. And the network knows that the show is going to do what it's going to do, no matter who they keep. As long as they have their Grey, they're all good. I wasn't the same guy they hired. So I understood when I got fired. And Shonda [Rhimes] It was really great. She protected us fiercely.

She protected us in public. She protected us privately. …But I probably got fired. It wasn't ceremoniously like, “You're fired,” it was just like, “You're not coming back.” If you take the eight years I was on Grey's Anatomy, I was in trouble longer than I was sober. And that's when things started to go wrong for me. It was upsetting, and I think I just wanted to pretend that it wasn't the case and that I was comfortable with it. Pretend you've been there, but you haven't.

How Mark Sloan's death impacted the Grey's Anatomy universe

As Dane alludes to in the comments above, McSteamy's exit from Grey's Anatomy Dane's departure comes at a time of great emotional turmoil for the actor. A few years before he left, a video surfaced of him, his ex-wife Rebecca Gayheart and model Kari Ann Peniche doing drugs while naked. The year before he left, Dane also checked into a treatment center for prescription drug addiction, which fits the timeline he mentions above of the few difficult years in which he was only more “the same guyABC hired for the role.

Despite his personal difficulties, Dane Grey's Anatomy The exit remains one of the most memorable for longtime fans of the series. While showrunners Tony Phelan and Joan Rater could have simply explained Sloan's death after the shocking Season 8 finale, as many other shows have done before, they instead offered a meaningful final arc for Dane's character. Between flashbacks to his relationship with Lexie, as well as finally doing the right thing and admitting his love for her to his girlfriend Julia and urging his protégé Jackson to always fight for those he loves, Sloan went out on one of the highest notes for his character.

Beyond the bittersweet nature of his relationship with Lexie after their two deaths, McSteamy's story Grey's Anatomy Sloan's death also left a lasting impression on the series' interconnected universe. Not only was the hospital renamed after Sloan and Lexie, but audiences also got to see Addison, played by Kate Walsh, who led the team. Private practice spin-off, and Derek Shepherd, played by Patrick Dempsey, shaken by the loss of his friend and manages to overcome this situation with the help of those around him. Grey's Anatomy with season 17 also confirming that he and Lexie remained together in the afterlife, it's hard to deny how impactful McSteamy's exit was.

The 20 seasons of

Grey's Anatomy

including Dane's Mandate, are available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu.

Source: Armchair expert