Because there’s more to the ABC hit drama than knowing how to do an appendectomy from start to finish.
ABC via withlovejialin.tumblr.com
1. Shonda Rhimes was obsessed with watching surgical shows on the Discovery Channel.
2. But her idea for Grey's Anatomy really started to develop after a doctor told her how hard it is to shave her legs in a hospital shower.
3. Rhimes almost set Grey's Anatomy in her hometown, Chicago, but decided not to in order to not have the show feel too similar to another medical drama, E.R., which is set in the same city.
4. Grey's Anatomy was going to be called Complications.
5. Miranda Bailey was the only role written with a character description: "tiny blonde with curls."
6. She was loosely based off Rhimes' mother.
7. But when Chandra Wilson auditioned, Rhimes was convinced she was perfect.
8. Sandra Oh originally auditioned for the part of Bailey.
9. But Oh loved the character of Cristina Yang and asked if she could read for her.
10. Ellen Pompeo wanted to do a different ABC pilot, written by Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman, called Secret Service. When that didn't get picked up, she was asked to play Meredith Grey.
11. When Patrick Dempsey first auditioned, he was terrified of Rhimes because of her stone-cold expression.
12. But Rhimes was actually trying to figure out what she could write for the, in her words, "dreamy" actor.
