Eric Dane on Why He ‘Might Be Fired’ From ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

Eric Dane as Dr. Mark Sloan, also known as McStimmy, in the third season of Grey’s Anatomy.

Courtesy of Everett Group

Eric Dane is speaking out about his exclusion Gray’s Anatomy After six seasons playing Dr. Mark Sloan, also known as McSteamy, on the hit ABC series. (Spoilers ahead!)

The actor’s role was introduced at the end of season two as a guest star. He became a regular character in season three after receiving positive feedback for his first appearance. Over the following seasons, Sloan became a fan favorite, but after a plane crash at the end of season eight, it was revealed that he would succumb to his injuries, dying at the beginning of season nine.

Danny returned to the show briefly in Season 17 when Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) was in a coma caused by Covid-19 and was visited on a fictional beach by Sloane, her sister Lexie Gray (Chyler Leigh), her husband Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), George O’Malley (T.R. Knight) and Andrew D. Luca (Giacomo Gianniotti).

the trance The actor stopped Dax Shepard The Chair Podcast Earlier this week, he revealed that he had not specifically chosen to leave Gray’s Anatomy When it was deleted.

“I think they let me go,” he told the host, explaining that he was struggling with addiction at the time. “They didn’t release me for that reason, although that certainly didn’t help. I was starting to become, like most of these actors who have been on a show too long, too expensive for the network. And the network knows the show is going to do what it’s going to do no matter who they stay on. As long as “They have Gray, they’re fine.”

“I wasn’t the same person they hired,” he continued. “So I understood when I was let go. And Shonda [Rhimes] It was really great. She protected us fiercely. She openly protected us. She especially protected us. …But I might have been fired. It wasn’t a ceremonial thing like, “You’re fired,” it was like, “You’re not coming back.”

At the height of his fame while he was there ashen‘s, Dane entered rehab due to his addiction to painkillers and had been suffering from depression over the years. He shared that when he joined the show, he had been sober for three or four years, so he was able to differentiate between what was reality and what wasn’t, but overall, he doesn’t think he handled the fame that came with it very well.

If you take the entire eight years into account, Gray’s Anatomy, I’ve been having sex longer than I’ve been sober. That’s when things started going sideways for me, he revealed, adding that the sudden popularity may have played a role in why he relapsed. “It was overwhelming, and I guess I just wanted to pretend that wasn’t the case and that I was comfortable with it. Act like you were there, but you weren’t.”

Dane is currently portrayed by Cal Jacobs trancethe father of Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi), and one of the few adult characters on the show.