More than a decade after leaving Grey’s Anatomy, Eric Dane reveals what led to his dismissal from the long-running ABC medical drama.
During an appearance on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, Dane, who had played Dr. Mark Sloan (aka Doctor McSteamy) in the show for six years claimed his departure from the show wasn’t voluntary.
“I didn’t leave so much as I think I was let go,” Eric Dane said about leaving Grey’s Anatomy. Dane disclosed he had been struggling with his drug and alcohol addiction at the time. However, he clarified that wasn’t the reason for his dismissal.
Dane then revealed he left the show due to financial reasons. “I was starting to become — as most of these actors who have spent significant time on the show — you start to become very expensive for the network,” he explained.
“And the network knows that the show is going to do what it’s going to do irrespective of who they keep on it—as long as they have their Grey they were fine.”
Eric Dane further pointed out that he hadn’t been the same guy that the Grey’s Anatomy production team hired. He understood why the producers decided to let him go.
Despite the situation, Dane had nothing but praise for the show’s creator, Shonda Rimes. He said she had been “really great” throughout the situation.
“She protected us fiercely,” he said about Rimes’ support of the cast. “She protected us publicly, she protected us privately… I love Shonda Rhimes and she protected me but I was probably fired.”
Eric Dane said his Grey’s Anatomy firing wasn’t that dramatic either. “It wasn’t ceremoniously like, ‘You’re fired,’” he noted. “It was just like, ‘You’re not coming back.’”
Eric Dane Says He Was ‘Three or Four Years’ Sober When He Was Hired on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’
Continuing to recall his Grey’s Anatomy days, Eric Dane said he was “three or four years” sober when he was first hired on the medical drama.
However, he ended up relapsing during the 2007 Writers Guild of America Strike. The event caused Grey’s Anatomy‘s production to shut down for months.
“If you take the whole eight years I was on Grey’s Anatomy, I was f—ed up longer than I was sober,” he admitted. “And that was when things started going sideways for me.”
Eric Dane’s departure occurred after his character died as a result of the injuries sustained in a plane crash at the end of Grey’s Anatomy season eight. He later appeared as a guest in the show’s seventh season.
Chyler Leigh, who played McSteamy’s love interest, Lexie Grey, also appeared as a guest. Leigh departed from the show after her character died in the same plane crash.