Grey's Anatomy has made some abrupt changes to this season’s line up -- Brooke Smith is out and Melissa George is in.
Smith played Dr. Callie Torres’ (
Sara Ramirez) lesbian love interest which was getting pretty hot and heavy last time we tuned in. Apparently, a little too hot for the network bigwigs?
EW.com reports a Grey's source saying the suits "had issues" with the explicit direction Callie’s newfound lesbianism was taking with playful innuendos like, “undiscovered territory” and “south of the border”.
Smith told EW.com, “I was really, really shocked. I was floored when they told me [I was being let go]. It was the last thing I expected. In fact, when they told me I asked, "When is this happening?" And they said, "The [next episode] is your last," which is the one that airs this Thursday. So it was very sudden.
Grey's doesn’t waste time -- they didn’t even bother writing out her character -- instead, they will just write in another character. Enter, Melissa George…
George joins the show this month playing Meredith’s (
Ellen Pompeo) best friend and a new intern at Seattle Grace. Her character was originally written as bisexual and another love interest for Callie (the girl’s making up for lost time) but a reliable insider tells EW.com, “They changed the script, and now she isn’t. She starts off flirting with Callie but it never goes anywhere.”
Creator
Shonda Rhimes issued a statement in response to these changes: "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."
http://www.hollywood.com/news/Greys_Anatomy_Smith_Out_George_In/5342570
