The role of Meredith was easy to fill, since execs at ABC had promised Pompeo (Old School, Moonlight Mile) another shot after she tested for their failed pilot Secret Service. (''The network didn't go for it,'' says the wispy 35-year-old actress, feigning incredulity. ''Me...as the head of the Secret Service!'') Rhimes, without realizing it, had wanted Pompeo all along. ''I kept saying, 'We need a girl like the girl from Moonlight Mile!' and finally somebody said, 'I think that girl is Ellen Pompeo. We have a deal with her at ABC!'''
The rest of the interns soon followed: Sandra Oh, who'd gained notice in the 2003 Diane Lane romance Under the Tuscan Sun but was still frustrated with her film opportunities, signed on as ambitious Cristina Yang. Roswell's Heigl took the role of Stevens, Charlie Lawrence's T.R. Knight joined as hapless naif George, and The X-Files' James Pickens Jr. agreed to play surgery chief Richard Webber. (Chambers was added to the cast after the original pilot was shot.) Broadway vet Chandra Wilson landed the part of cranky senior resident and so-called ''Nazi'' Miranda Bailey, despite the fact that Rhimes envisioned a blonde spitfire for the role. ''I can do anything I want to now!'' says Wilson, 35, flashing a smile that could sweeten even Bailey's sour disposition. ''People leave me alone because they think I'm mean. I'm not mean — I'm misunderstood.''
Dempsey — a 2001 Emmy nominee for his wrenching turn as Sela Ward's schizophrenic brother on Once and Again — eventually edged out Isaiah Washington to win the part of Dr. Shepherd, the shady dreamboat who rolls over naked next to Meredith in the first episode. ''I needed something that let me play a leading man with edge,'' says Dempsey. ''People had such a strong idea of what I was, based on what I had played years ago. I was so over it.'' When the role of Dr. Burke was suddenly vacated after Prison Break's Paul Adelstein fell out due to a movie commitment, Rhimes reconsidered Washington, a Spike Lee protégé who'd more recently starred in junk like Trois 3: The Escort. ''I said that I would only do it if I didn't have to be like that guy on that other medical show who was always struggling with his anger,'' says Washington, 42, referencing ER's eternally sullen Dr. Benton (Eriq La Salle).
You Might Also Like
- TV Review Grey's Anatomy | Lisa Schwarzbaum
- TV Review Grey's Anatomy | Kristen Baldwin
- Photo Gallery 'Grey's Anatomy': Season 4 best/worst | Gregory Kirschling
- The Ausiello Files The Ausiello Files for Sept. 19, 2008 | Michael Ausiello
- Book News September events calendar
- Television News Katherine Heigl could be axed | Lynette Rice
