{"id":214268,"date":"2025-10-10T12:37:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T12:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/214268\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T12:37:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T12:37:08","slug":"jessica-capshaw-moves-on-from-greys-anatomy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/214268\/","title":{"rendered":"Jessica Capshaw Moves on From ‘Grey’s Anatomy’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t[This story contains mild spoilers from the season premiere of 9-1-1<\/a>: Nashville.]<\/p>\n

\n\tJessica Capshaw can never quite seem to escape Grey\u2019s Anatomy, but she wouldn\u2019t have it any other way. In her first major foray into television since departing Grey\u2019s as a series regular in 2018, Capshaw is trading in her hospital scrubs for the attire of a high-powered equestrian and entrepreneur in a new 9-1-1 spinoff set in Music City \u2014 which launched right before the venerable medical drama\u2019s 22nd season on ABC.<\/p>\n

\n\tCo-created by Ryan Murphy<\/a>, Tim Minear and Rashad Raisani, 9-1-1: Nashville<\/a> stars NCIS: LA alum Chris O\u2019Donnell as Don Hart, a former rodeo rider and the fire captain of the city\u2019s Station 113. The latest installment will blend the same high-octane, life-threatening emergencies of its predecessors \u2014 the original 9-1-1 also returned Thursday for season nine without original star Peter Krause<\/a>, while the Austin-set Lone Star starring Rob Lowe ended earlier this year after five seasons \u2014 with a classic dose of soapy family drama in the vein of Dynasty and Succession.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut in a first for the 9-1-1 franchise, one of the leads is not a first-responder. Capshaw plays Blythe Hart, the matriarch of an aristocratic Southern family who fell for working-class Don many moons ago, despite her father\u2019s disapproval, after he helped put out a fire at her ranch. Don and Blythe\u2019s only son, Ryan (Michael Provost), has chosen to work alongside his father at the 113, leaving their family\u2019s sprawling business empire in the hands of his mother.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI do think a wonderful thing about playing her is that she just has this confidence and this chill \u2014 chill as in calm, not as in icy,\u201d Capshaw tells The Hollywood Reporter. \u201cShe\u2019s very confident and secure, but not, to me at least, in an effort to seem above it all. Even though she has so much and is so privileged, there\u2019s something very warm and earthy about her. Her efforts to be a part of that family for [Don] at work and at home is very evident later in the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDon and Blythe\u2019s marriage will be tested as they grapple with the inevitable arrival of Blue Bennings (Hunter McVey), the son Don fathered decades ago in a previous relationship with failed backup singer Dixie (LeAnn Rimes). As Dixie, who is dealing with her own health issues, encourages Blue to \u201csink [his] hooks\u201d into the Hart family (and their deep pockets), Blythe begins to suspect the Bennings have ulterior motives for showing back up in Don\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s a juicy premise that immediately appealed to Capshaw, who has relished the opportunity to help build a show from the ground up for the first time. \u201cThe beginning was unique in that it wasn\u2019t completely unknown territory, because I did know how beloved the original 9-1-1 was and is, and then Lone Star. There was an understanding of its capacity to charm and engage audiences,\u201d she says. \u201cWe do have crossover with the original 9-1-1 cast members when doing press to promote the show, so it feels like a family. We\u2019re lucky enough to stand on their shoulders and also they on ours, hopefully, in our success.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCalling in from Nashville, where she is halfway done shooting the first season, Capshaw opens up below to THR about her long-awaited return to the small screen, the enduring legacy of Grey\u2019s\u2018 Dr. Arizona Robbins and her fan-favorite relationship with Sara Ramirez<\/a>\u2019s Dr. Callie Torres \u2014 and whether she might pull double duty for an episode or two of Grey\u2019s and Nashville this season.<\/p>\n

\n\t***<\/p>\n

\n\tFor TV viewers who have grown accustomed to watching you on Grey\u2019s, how would you compare and contrast Arizona Robbins with Blythe Hart?<\/p>\n

\n\tI always felt that when Arizona came into Grey\u2019s, it was during a time when the series had reached such a fever pitch. It was such a popular show, and part of what I think people responded to was that it was so honest. There were these friendships at the center of these crazy life-and-death circumstances that really allowed you to understand these young people as they were making their way through their residencies. As you got to know Cristina (Sandra Oh<\/a>) and Meredith\u2019s (Ellen Pompeo<\/a>) dark and twisty, the show was like, \u201cWe\u2019re going to show you our guts. We\u2019re going to show you the actual insides of our emotional lives, and then we\u2019re going to show you our patient\u2019s actual guts.\u201d Then when I came on in the fifth season, looking back on it now, I think that they were ready for a little bit of lightness.<\/p>\n

\n\tArizona came on with so much hope. She worked with children. She was interestingly and uniquely, but not in a bad way, delusional like, \u201cI\u2019m going to be who I am in this world.\u201d My storylines were all with Bailey (Chandra Wilson). She was so used to telling everyone else what to do, and Arizona just kept smiling, going along, and giving her a chance. Then finally, she turned on her and was like, \u201cI get it. I\u2019m a stranger with a ponytail and a smile, but I know what I\u2019m fucking doing. So back off.\u201d That lightness and brightness came in a way that worked for that time. Then over the next 10 years, we obviously took huge, huge journeys with her, but she did retain that light quality. <\/p>\n

\n\tI think Blythe has a lightness about her that might come from her privilege. Believe you me, we\u2019re going to find out a lot of things that are very heavy, but she tries to bring the light and warmth to the situation. She\u2019s very inclusive and warm and makes decisions to include [others] where I think a lot of people would be like, \u201cHell no! That person?\u201d (Laughs.) So that is definitely something I see as a common thread between the characters. I think that they both definitely occupy the space of understanding that they know what they want.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe contrast \u2014 when I was watching it \u2014 is surprising, because there\u2019s a calmness in playing Blythe. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s that she\u2019s southern and there\u2019s a mannered quality to the way that she conducts herself or the way she dresses, or, again, the privilege that she has, or that she\u2019s married to and is the mother and wife of two men that run into burning buildings; you definitely have to have a certain disposition to be OK with that choice. But she has a calm about her that I don\u2019t know that Arizona necessarily played in her relationships. She played them in the OR, but not in relationships. She was bouncy, and Blythe is not bouncy.<\/p>\n

\n\tGiven that you are playing a main character who is not a first responder, what kinds of discussions have you had with showrunner Rashad Raisani about Blythe\u2019s place in the story? How did you think about building her as a character?<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen we got here to start making the show, the first scenes I had were with Michael Provost, who plays our son Ryan, and then with Chris. Either by happenstance or coincidence, our first scenes were together, and that is the trio. Their last name is Hart, but that is the heart. It starts with them and their love of family. What\u2019s been really important is this partnership between Blythe and Don. It has grown into something that shouldn\u2019t be aspirational. We all should be in these loving and equal partnerships, and really be able to take each other to the mat, and then also love each other up as much as possible, but that is what has happened. There\u2019s already been a lot of ups and downs and all arounds and discoveries, and ways in which they as a couple have had to persevere and ask some follow-up questions so that they can get right with each other. But ultimately, they\u2019re trying really hard to take care of their family.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking of family, what has been really important to me \u2014 and what I\u2019ve spoken to Rashad about a lot, and something that has grown organically \u2014 is that Blythe is in the firehouse every so often. I wouldn\u2019t call her a den mother, but she is very familiar with the squad. We made a decision that, when she walks into rooms or hospitals or emergencies, there\u2019s a real shorthand between her and the squad. She knows Roxie. She knows Taylor. She\u2019s going to get to know Blue! But she knows Ryan, and I do think a wonderful thing about playing her is that she just has this confidence and this chill \u2014 chill as in calm, not as in icy. She\u2019s just very confident and secure, but not, to me at least, in an effort to seem above it all. Even though she has so much and is so privileged, there\u2019s something also very warm and earthy about her. I think that her efforts to be a part of that family for him at work and at home is very evident later in the season.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tJessica Capshaw with Chris O\u2019Donnell in the 9-1-1 Nashville premiere.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDisney\/Jake Giles Netter<\/p>\n

\n\tThe trailer revealed that Don is the biological father of Blue, and Blue\u2019s single mother, Dixie, appears to be hatching a secret plan to get Blue to worm his way into the vast Hart family fortune. The pilot sees Blue come face-to-face with Ryan for the first time, but it also reveals that Blythe has known about Blue\u2019s existence for years. How does Blythe feel about the fact that her husband has fathered another child outside of their relationship, and how did you think about playing the reveal that she has known about this other child all along?<\/p>\n

\n\tI thought it was very interesting because obviously, for Ryan, it\u2019s completely shocking. The entire circumstance of him meeting his half-brother is shocking. And, of course, he first goes to his father, because he\u2019s the one that tells him and has a private conversation, and it\u2019s not entirely satisfying. He doesn\u2019t get all the answers to why and how and what exactly happened. So then you have him finding his mother where he\u2019s like, \u201cMom, this is bad. Dad betrayed us.\u201d It\u2019s protective, and it\u2019s kind. Michael is such a talented young actor and so wonderful to work with, and it really was our actual first day of filming, so it\u2019s gobsmacking to me that we managed to pull off the scene that looks like we really have known each other for so long. (Laughs.)<\/p>\n

\n\tHe comes to me and says, \u201cThis is all wrong, and this is terrible.\u201d I said to Rashad \u2014 and it\u2019ll be interesting to see what people\u2019s perception of it is \u2014 that it was really important to me that we keep the ethos of the lines that were written. Because she\u2019s not saying, \u201cIt\u2019s no big deal,\u201d but she\u2019s saying, \u201cI know. This [happened during] a period of time where we were separated, and believe you me, I had my fun too.\u201d In a way, to me, it really puts a finer point on \u2014 this is not a woman who got cheated on, who was betrayed, who got left, and then figured out how to be OK with it. There\u2019s no martyrdom in it. There\u2019s no victimhood. There was a period of time where Don and Blythe weren\u2019t going to make it; they weren\u2019t going to stay together. So they had this separation, and these things happened.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen a child came of it, there really wasn\u2019t a ton of her being like, \u201cOff with your head!\u201d and flipping tables, and \u201cNo, this can\u2019t be!\u201d It was kind of the only occasion in which there could be not an equal but at least a level playing field. It helped me understand how she could move forward and how she could say, \u201cOK, this happened, and now what? Because we\u2019ve already made this choice to stay together. So what does that mean?\u201d And, again, that\u2019s where I think Blythe\u2019s warmth and generosity comes in, because she says to Ryan, \u201cWe\u2019ve been supporting this child since the day he was born.\u201d And this is not her child!<\/p>\n

\n\tHow does Blythe really feel about Dixie, though? Does she feel threatened by the extensive history that this woman has with her husband, considering that they come from the side of the tracks?<\/p>\n

\n\tCertainly. We wouldn\u2019t have the drama without it! Again, I go back to this confidence that she has that is wild to me. And when I play it, I\u2019m like, \u201cDamn, Blythe, you\u2019ve got this.\u201d But she\u2019s less threatened and more that she just knows she\u2019s trouble. She just knows that where there\u2019s smoke, there\u2019s fire. She just knows that if you give her an inch, she\u2019s going to take a mile. It\u2019s like, \u201cFool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.\u201d So I think she\u2019s very cautious about her. I think she knows that Don is such a good person and that he has been missing this piece of his life in having a child that has been around in the world without him.<\/p>\n

\n\tI think that she\u2019s also just trying to manage all of it. We\u2019ll get to it later in the show, but Blythe wears a ton of hats in her family. She\u2019s got this big family, but she\u2019s actually in the inner workings of running the businesses, so she\u2019s not just at home. It would be fine if she was, but my point is, she\u2019s not doing nothing. She\u2019s managing, whether it\u2019s the whiskey business or the philanthropy or the race horses. Honestly, I\u2019m not sure how she can be doing as much as she\u2019s doing, but she\u2019s doing a lot. (Laughs.)<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tJessica Capshaw with LeAnn Rimes in 9-1-1: Nashville.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDisney\/Jake Giles Netter<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s not lost on me that you are now returning to the same network that made you a star 15 years ago, and Nashville is the lead-in for Grey\u2019s this fall. The latter has become a cultural touchstone at this point, and after having played one of the first lesbian main characters on network television, you are closely intertwined with the show\u2019s diverse and inclusive legacy. When did you first notice and understand the impact that Arizona has had, particularly on queer women?<\/p>\n

\n\tI noticed a very distinct shift, really, through streaming. Once it was on Netflix and people were not just watching it in real time, they were going back and watching it, and then they were going through and watching it again and again and again. Shonda\u2019s commitment to that character, I will be forever grateful to her for sometimes even seeing things that I couldn\u2019t even necessarily imagine. I was like, \u201cOK, here we go.\u201d There was a great partnership with Shonda [Rhimes], there was a wonderful partnership between Sara and I, and I do think that we created something really, really special. So I think that I noticed it when streaming made it even more available, and then I definitely had a front row seat when people started coming up to me. It was the thing that was top of mind for people when they came up to say something.<\/p>\n

\n\tI would get really incredible letters that were just describing life-altering experiences from people who were not talking to their parents because they had come out and their parents had been like, \u201cThis is not whatever \u2026 fill in the blank.\u201d And through the show, they had seen this other side of something and gone back to their child and been like, \u201cI see this other thing that I didn\u2019t see.\u201d That was bonkers to me. The fact that a television show could create a pathway to repair was wild to me, and it really was so emotional. So I was very, very grateful for that because, honestly, in the beginning, you\u2019re playing a part and you\u2019re creating a character. It\u2019s a very different kind of acting. It\u2019s not a movie where you get the whole script, and you know where you start and where you end. You\u2019re on a television show where every single week you\u2019re getting a new story. You don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen, and you\u2019re truly, as much as you\u2019re creating the ride, also along for the ride.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow has your relationship with the character changed over time, particularly as you have had time and space away from the show?<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s a very interesting question. I\u2019m not quite exactly sure how to answer it, only because I think that you\u2019d get the script, you\u2019d play it, it would get edited, you would see it, and then that\u2019s where it lived. It lived in relation to the rest of the season, and I didn\u2019t do a ton of going back and watching it. I will say that it became popular for teenage girls especially, I think, to watch it over and over and over again. For my kids, of course, that\u2019s their mom. So I don\u2019t think it was\u00a0 purposeful [on their part], like, \u201cI\u2019m not going to watch it,\u201d but I didn\u2019t feel like they started watching it when some of their other friends did.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd then when they actually did start watching it, I would hear my voice in the living room. I would be like, \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d (Laughs.) And I would come in. When I walked into the room and I started watching it, in this particular instance, it was the beginning [of Arizona]. It was something that I filmed, I don\u2019t know, 13, 14 years ago, and you\u2019re that much older, you\u2019re more into your life and you look at it. It stays in this little moment, and I don\u2019t necessarily revisit it so much as I can see how it gets rewatched the way that it does, and it\u2019s pretty wild.<\/p>\n

\n\tDo you sit down and rewatch Grey\u2019s at all with your kids now that they are interested in the show? Or are you the kind of actor who doesn\u2019t like watching themselves on screen?<\/p>\n

\n\tI do give grace to my younger self. In this particular instance, I did come around the corner, I heard my voice, and I stood there. She was watching it and I was watching it, and I did stay for the rest of the scene. But I definitely feel like she was like, \u201cThis is too meta. I need you to get out!\u201d (Laughs.)<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tJessica Capshaw, right, with Sara Ramirez, on Grey\u2019s Anatomy.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEverett Collection<\/p>\n

\n\tGrey\u2019s showrunner Meg Marinis has said that she has an open door policy <\/a>with all of the show\u2019s alumni, and she has been intentional about which characters she has brought back. Your return in season 20 was designed to bring back some of the joy, levity and love for teaching that the attendings at Grey Sloan were desperately missing. You have a new day job that is keeping you very busy these days, but would you want to return more in a guest-starring capacity?<\/p>\n

\n\tI love Meg, and one of my best friends, Camilla Luddington [who plays Jo], is still on the show. She and I have our podcast called Call It What It Is, so I spend at least five hours a week with Camilla working on other things. It was home for so long, and I love it there. I love the family and I love the character, so I\u2019m always available to that show. I don\u2019t know how it would go now. I\u2019ve thought about it \u2014 I don\u2019t know if it would be super distracting if I was at 9 o\u2019clock Blythe, and then 10 o\u2019clock Arizona, but I would be game to try!<\/p>\n

\n\tDo you think Arizona and Callie have found their way back to each other in New York?<\/p>\n

\n\tI love that you saved that question for last! (Laughs.) That\u2019s too hard a question to answer, because you know what? What I love and think is so fascinating and so cool is that the fans of Grey\u2019s Anatomy \u2014 and specifically the fans of certain ships and couples \u2014 come up with all this fanfiction. I haven\u2019t read it all and I don\u2019t go mining for it, but I will tell you that I know it exists. The reason I\u2019m bringing it up is because I would not dare to imagine what is happening in the make-believe land of Callie and Arizona or the alumni characters as they live and breathe after they\u2019ve left the hospital. But I think that all these different fanfictions that come up with things is so cool, so I have no idea. But I think that if you\u2019re committed to that relationship and if you\u2019ve been a fan of that relationship, then whatever you want to imagine about them and where they are is what should be living in your head.<\/p>\n

\n\t***<\/p>\n

\n\t9-1-1: Nashville airs Thursdays at 9\/8c on ABC, followed by Grey\u2019s Anatomy at 10\/9c. Episodes stream the next day on Hulu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[This story contains mild spoilers from the season premiere of 9-1-1: Nashville.] Jessica Capshaw can never quite seem…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[36125,36126,56849,121557,88,33106,11494,87485,121754,65661],"class_list":{"0":"post-214268","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-9-1-1","9":"tag-9-1-1-nashville","10":"tag-chris-odonnell","11":"tag-ellen-pompeo","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-greys-anatomy","14":"tag-ryan-murphy","15":"tag-sandra-oh","16":"tag-sara-ramirez","17":"tag-shonda-rhimes"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}