Patrick Dempsey.Photo: Karen Neal/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
A new book is giving fans an inside look atPatrick Dempsey’s 2015 exit fromGrey’s Anatomy.
InHow to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy, author Lynette Rice spoke with cast and crew members of the beloved ABC medical drama to get the story of what went on behind the cameras — which Rice toldThe Hollywood Reporterwas “just as dramatic” as what viewers saw on screen.
“Shonda needed an OG to come in as sort of a showrunner for fourteen episodes. There were HR issues. It wasn’t sexual in any way. He sort of was terrorizing the set. Some cast members had all sorts of PTSD with him,” Parriott says in the excerpt.
Patrick Dempsey.Kelsey McNeal/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
A representative for Rhimes did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Executive producer Jeannine Renshaw adds in theTHRexcerpt that Dempsey started to complain about the long hours and chaotic work schedule, which she said frustrated starEllen Pompeo.
“There were times where Ellen was frustrated with Patrick and she would get angry that he wasn’t working as much. She was very big on having things be fair. She just 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 explains in the book.
“When I brought it up to Patrick, I would say, ‘Look around you. These people have been here since 6:30 a.m.’ He would go, ‘Oh, yeah.’ He would get it. It’s just that actors tend to see things from their own perspective,” she says, describing Dempsey as “the kid in class who wants to go to recess.”
RELATED VIDEO: Grey’s Anatomy Showrunner Says Keeping Patrick Dempsey’s Surprise Return Secret ‘Was an Epic Feat’
“It’s ten months, fifteen hours a day,” he says in the excerpt of the workload to film the series. “You never know your schedule, so your kid asks you, ‘What are you doing on Monday?’ And you go, ‘I don’t know,’ because I don’t know my schedule.”
“Doing that for eleven years is challenging,” he says. “But you have to be grateful, because you’re well-compensated, so you can’t really complain because you don’t really have a right. You don’t have control over your schedule. So, you have to just be flexible.”
“It’s very heady. It [was] a lot to process, and not wanting to let that go, because you never know whether you will work again and have success again,” Dempsey adds.
Ultimately, tensions became too high, and Rhimes told ABC that if Dempsey wasn’t leaving, she would, according to Renshaw.
“Nobody wanted him to leave, because he was the show. Him and Ellen. Patrick is a sweetheart. It messes you up, this business,” she says.
Stacey McKee, a writer and story editor onGrey’s, says in the book that there wasn’t “any way to exit himwithout him dying.”
“He and Meredith were such an incredibly bonded couple at that point,” she says. “It would be completely out of character if he left his kids. There was no exit that would honor that character other than if he were to die.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Describing his final day on set, Dempsey says he “very quietly left.”
RELATED VIDEO: Grey’s Anatomy By The Numbers! The ABC Series Makes History as the Longest Primetime Medical Drama - Surpassing ER!
While Dempsey’s exit from the show shocked fans — and angered some — it wasn’t his final appearance onGrey’s Anatomy. In the latest season, he wasone of several former starstoreunite with Meredith Greyin her dreams while she was unconscious with COVID-19.
In an April interview withVariety, Dempsey saidhe would consider returningto the show yet again.
“Who knows?Never say never with this show, right?” he said when asked if he could envision Derek making another cameo. “I’m glad we did it this year. And [showrunner] Krista Vernoff did a fantastic job telling the story.”
How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomycomes out Tuesday.
source: people.com
