For those of you who felt the lack of that all-important chemistry between Dr. Erica Hahn and Dr. Callie Torres on Grey’s Anatomy, you weren’t alone. ABC execs weren’t feeling it either and told the people at Grey’s to get rid of her as soon as possible, according to Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello. A source close to the situation told EW that the execs took issue with “both the explicit direction Callie was taking and, more importantly, with the Hahn character in general.” Brooke Smith spoke out to EW this week and said that she was as blindsided as the fans were by this news.
When asked if the lesbian storyline between her character and Dr. Torres was causing problems on set, Brooke said she didn’t feel that anyone was nervous about it. “At work I had no sense of it. And more fans seemed to like it than not. I don’t think I’m ever going to know why this really happened,” she said. The news of her firing left Brooke feeling confused and disappointed in both the show and the network. “I was very excited when they told me that Erica and Callie were going to have this relationship. And I really hoped we were going to show what happens when two women fall in love and that they were going to treat it like any heterosexual couple on TV,” she said. “And so I was surprised and disappointed when they just suddenly told me that they couldn’t write for my character anymore.”
For those hoping for a resolution to Erica’s storyline, fans will be sorely disappointed. Brooke Smith’s last episode is this Thursday. “I’m not written out,” she explained. “My final scene is just me heading to my car. I honestly don’t know what happens in the next episode. I heard not much.” Grey’s will be welcoming two new characters to the show, one of them being Sadie, a bisexual intern.
Grey’s Anatomy executive producer released her own statement to Entertainment Weekly in response to Brooke’s interview. It reads as follows: “Brooke Smith was obviously not fired for playing a lesbian. Clearly it’s not an issue as we have a lesbian character on the show – Calliope Torres. Sara Ramirez is an incredible comedic and dramatic actress and we wanted to be able to play up her magic. Unfortunately, we did not find that the magic and chemistry with Brooke’s character would sustain in the long run. The impact of the Callie/Erica relationship will be felt and played out in a story for Callie. I believe it belittles the relationship to simply replace Erica with ‘another lesbian.’ If you’ll remember, Cristina mourned the loss of Burke for a full season.”
– Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer
Source: Entertainment Weekly
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
