Shonda Rhimes is opening up about a pivotal moment behind-the-scenes of Grey’s Anatomy. In the new HBO documentary Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television, the series creator revealed that while casting the iconic medical ABC TV drama back in 2005, she was shocked to be sent only white actors.
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“I kept saying, like, ‘Where are all the actors?’ They would keep sending us these actors who all look the same, who were white,” Shonda recalled, via TVLine.
“I remember standing up in the room and looking at the network president and saying, ‘I’m not going to have an all-white show.”
Her push for diversity on the TV show changed everything: casting director Linda Lowy then opened the doors to more talent, bringing in actors like Sandra Oh and Chandra Wilson, who became part of the original cast alongside Ellen Pompeo and more.
“This flood of actors started to come in. And it was really wonderful. We got to see all these actors who had never been considered for roles other than, like, in very small parts before,” Shonda said, adding “I just knew that I was not going to make a show that I would’ve been embarrassed to put on TV.”
Shonda went on to say she wasn’t “going to make a show [for which] I would have to turn to my parents and go, ‘Yeah, it has an all-white cast, but that’s how TV’s made.’ Like, how was I going to say that to my dad?”
Season 22 premieres this fall. Find out who is returning!
Source: justjared.com