An unauthorized book about the behind-the-scenes happenings of long-running medical drama Grey’s Anatomy is on the way. How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy was written by author Lynette Rice, and The Hollywood Reporter published a juicy excerpt ahead of the book’s Sept. 21 release date. James D. Parriott (executive producer) opens up about the drama surrounding Patrick Dempsey’s exit from the series season 11. Shonda Rhimes, the show creator, decided that McDreamy would be killed off, and Dempsey was ready to go.
Parriott said that Dempsey was at odds with Rhimes by the end. “There were HR issues” Parriott explained that Dempsey was the one who was at odds with him. “It wasn’t sexual in any way. He was terrorizing the set. Some cast members had all sorts of PTSD with him. He had this hold on the set where he knew he could stop production and scare people. The network and studio came down, and we had sessions with them.”
“I think he was just done with the show,” Parriott stated. “He didn’t like the inconvenience of coming in every day and working. He and Shonda were at each other’s throats.” Although they appear to have come to an agreement now that Derek Shepherd has returned to Grey’s Anatomy’s mind beach in season 17 with his character, Dempsey, there was still conflict between Dempsey & Ellen Pompeo. “There were times where Ellen was frustrated with Patrick, and she would get angry that he wasn’t working as much,” Jeannine Renshaw was the ex-executive producer. “She was very big on having things be fair. She didn’t like that Patrick would complain that ‘I’m here too late’ or ‘I’ve been here too long when she had twice as many scenes in the episode as he did.”
Renshaw explained that some of Dempsey’s complaints seemed a little justified. “When I brought it up to Patrick, I would say, ‘Look around you. These people have been here since 6:30 am.’ He would go, ‘Oh, yeah.’ He would get it,” She explained. “It’s just that actors tend to see things from their perspective… He’s such high energy and would go, ‘What’s happening next?’ He goes out of his skin, sitting and waiting. He wants to be out driving his race car or doing something fun. He’s the kid in class who wants to go to recess.”