‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Went to the Same Tortuous Extent to Surprise Fans With Scott Speedman as They Did With Patrick Dempsey
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
- ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ shocked fans with the return of Scott Speedman as Dr. Nick Marsh
- Showrunner Krista Vernoff and her team had experience keeping a guest star secret
- The ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ editors are the real heroes when it comes to Speedman’s return
Grey’s Anatomy shocked fans in the season 18 opener with the return of Scott Speedman’s Dr. Nick Marsh. But it wasn’t just a guest appearance. Speedman is the newest series regular on the long-running ABC medical drama. He’s also on track to be Meredith Grey’s (Ellen Pompeo) newest love interest.
According to showrunner Krista Vernoff, they went to the same torturous extent to surprise fans with Speedman as they did in season 17 with Patrick Dempsey.
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ laid the groundwork for Scott Speedman’s character in season 14
The first time Grey’s Anatomy fans met Dr. Nick Marsh was in Season 14, Episode 17 “One Day Like This.” The traveling transplant surgeon was at Grey Sloan to get an organ for a patient just a few short weeks after his own kidney transplant, and his body started to reject it. That’s when Meredith stepped in, and she ended up saving Nick’s life.
The chemistry between Nick and Meredith was undeniable throughout the episode. In the final scene, Meredith told Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) that she had saved the life of a “smart, funny, and hot” transplant surgeon. She also confessed that he made her feel something she hadn’t felt since Derek (Patrick Dempsey).
At the time, it was just a one-off appearance for Speedman. But the few scenes he appeared in laid some amazing groundwork for his character.
Scott Speedman says Dr. Nick Marsh ‘matches really well’ with Dr. Meredith Grey
Speedman told Deadline that his character is “very charming, and light, and fun, and nice, but he’s an adult.” He believes that Nick “matches really well” with Pompeo’s Dr. Grey, and he “does something to her that’s interesting.”
Vernoff noted that Speedman had the benefit of “powerful writer” Elisabeth Finch when his character appeared in season 14. The showrunner says Finch included “so many layers of character development” in the few scenes Nick had.
“We learned so much about him and his life that I think it gave Scott a real foundation,” Vernoff said. “She talks about his hobbies, she talks about his family, she talks about his mom, his health. So, it was well-developed work to begin with.”
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ went to a tortuous extent to hide Scott Speedman from fans
Vernoff said that ahead of the season 17 premiere, they went to great lengths to hide the fact that Patrick Dempsey was returning for a guest appearance as Dr. Derek Shepherd. She says that ahead of season 18, they did the exact same thing to keep Speedman’s return a surprise.
“I went to the same extent that I went to keep Patrick’s return a secret, which is torture for everybody, fake character names, fake scenes at table reads, dailies not released, cuts with omitted scenes,” Vernoff explained. “We wanted to give fans the thrill of surprise one more time.”
Krista Vernoff wanted fans gasping at their televisions
Vernoff explained that when the network drops a lot of cash for people to come and do big appearances, they really want to advertise it. The showrunner says she knew she’d have to let ABC advertise Kate Walsh’s return as Dr. Addison Montgomery. But, she fought to keep Speedman a surprise.
“I knew that I would have to let them advertise Kate Walsh. When the studio and network are paying a lot of money for people to come and do big appearances, they want to advertise it, and I always want surprises. I’m like a child. So, this one, it felt important to let the fans gasp at their television one more time,” Vernoff explained.
The ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ showrunner is buying the editors some flowers
Vernoff made it clear that she “really, really wanted to make this work” with Speedman and surprise fans with his return. She explained that he was shooting a movie over the summer when production began for season 18, but that ended up being beneficial to her plan.
“That actually benefited us because we had to save his scenes for multiple episodes and shoot them in the last week, basically, and plug them in,” Vernoff explained the day before the season 18 premiere. “We’re shooting some scenes today that are in the episode that airs next week. So, we made this work, but it actually really helped protect the surprise.”
When Speedman heard Vernoff say that, he remarked, “Oh, no, poor editors.” Vernoff agreed, saying, “Yeah, The poor editors. I’m going to send some flowers.”
New episodes of Grey’s Anatomy air Thursdays on ABC.
