*Many “Grey’s Anatomy” fans lost sleep when Shonda Rhimes killed off their beloved McDreamy, and the show’s creator says it “wasn’t easy or fun” to kill Patrick Dempsey’s character off of ABC’s hit drama series.
Patrick Dempsey played Dr. Derek Shepherd, a brain surgeon nicknamed McDreamy, who was Ellen Pompeo’s love interest for 11 seasons. Speaking to TV critics Tuesday, Rhimes said she was faced with either having Shepherd leave Meredith – scarring her and fans of their journey, or kill him off – keeping their love story in tact, MSN.com reports.
“The only way to preserve what felt true to me was that Derek was gonna have to die,” Shonda said. However, reports that Dempsey’s on-set behavior is said to be what truly contributed to him being written off.
Pompeo said that the loss of her on-screen lover was a challenge creatively because “those are the best scenes to play” as an actor. She also pointed out the realism of her and Derek’s situation. “So many people lose their spouses in a myriad of different ways and feel they can’t get up again and to tell the story of how life goes on after… that’s a story worth telling,” Pompeo said.
Dempsey chatted with EW back in April about when he learned his character was being written off the series:
“Things happened very quickly, where we were like, ‘Oh, this is where it’s going to go.’ It just sort of unfolded in a very organic way. I don’t remember the date. It was not in the fall. Maybe February or March. It happened very quickly.”
He added:
“Shepherd is a beloved character. People don’t want to lose him. He’s been in their lives for over 10 years. But it goes on, and it will evolve.”
The new season of “Grey’s Anatomy” will premiere Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. EDT. Rhimes has teased that season 12 will be “lighter in tone.”
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