Sarah Drew Reveals What It Was Like to Get Fired From ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

Earlier this year, Grey’s Anatomy said goodbye to Jessica Capshaw (Dr. Arizona Robbins) and Sarah Drew (Dr. April Kepner), after producers of the ABC drama declined to renew their contracts for the new season. Now, months after posting a heartfelt goodbye on social media, Drew gave her first interview since being fired to The Hollywood Reporter, and opened up about what exactly happened on the set of the ABC show.

On the day of her firing, Drew was shadowing costar Kevin McKidd, who was directing an episode that day. “It was in the afternoon and I went back to my trailer and I did my crying and called my people,” she said. “A whole bunch of people came into my trailer to give me hugs and cry with me and tell me they were so sad I was leaving.”

Drew says she was told Grey’s had too many characters—and that the show needed to downsize so the main cast all had time to have their stories told. Her character, April, seemed to have a happy ending brewing as a means of being written out: by marrying Matthew. But, brace yourselves—Drew wishes her storyline went somewhere else instead. “Part of me will always be a little heartbroken that April and Jackson were not end game,” she said. April and Jackson!!

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Calling all @televisionacad Members! Voting for #emmys2018 opens TODAY! Please consider voting for “Grey’s Anatomy B-Team” in the “outstanding short form comedy or drama” category! This video was taken by @blgalvan just after we wrapped shooting all six episodes. He secretly took a ton of BTS videos to commemorate my directorial debut and surprised me with them after the fact. (So sweet ??). Directing this web series was an extraordinary experience. I lost A LOT of sleep prepping for it. I was SO afraid of failing. My incredible DP #AlexaIhrt and I put in so many extra prep hours to be sure that we would have smooth sailing on the days that we shot, and all of that work really paid off. As I say in the video, everyone worked their asses off to bring their A GAME to the B TEAM!! I’m looking at you @abbyrchambers #valcheung @saadmansoor and #barbarafriend @gregcusumano !! It was such a delight directing this series. I can’t wait to do it again. Vote for us!!!! #foryourconsideration #emmys2018 #greysanatomybteam #thebteamistheateam

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Calling all @televisionacad Members! Voting for #emmys2018 opens TODAY! Please consider voting for “Grey’s Anatomy B-Team” in the “outstanding short form comedy or drama” category! This video was taken by @blgalvan just after we wrapped shooting all six episodes. He secretly took a ton of BTS videos to commemorate my directorial debut and surprised me with them after the fact. (So sweet ??). Directing this web series was an extraordinary experience. I lost A LOT of sleep prepping for it. I was SO afraid of failing. My incredible DP #AlexaIhrt and I put in so many extra prep hours to be sure that we would have smooth sailing on the days that we shot, and all of that work really paid off. As I say in the video, everyone worked their asses off to bring their A GAME to the B TEAM!! I’m looking at you @abbyrchambers #valcheung @saadmansoor and #barbarafriend @gregcusumano !! It was such a delight directing this series. I can’t wait to do it again. Vote for us!!!! #foryourconsideration #emmys2018 #greysanatomybteam #thebteamistheateam

A post shared by Sarah Drew (@thesarahdrew) on

She ultimately decided to keep shadowing McKidd so she could learn more about directing And she’s now received an Emmy nomination for The B-Team, a Grey’s shortform series she directed. “My confidence had gotten a bit shaken in the wake of being let go,” she said, “and the nomination after the fact made me go, ‘I don’t need to be worried about anything or have my confidence shaken.’”

But still, she says she’ll have a hard time watching Grey’s Anatomy in the future. “There is something about watching your family go on without you that’s a bit painful. I’m not sure I need to put myself through that,” she said. “I love them and I’m sure it’s going to be a great season but I think it might be challenging for me to tune in.”

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