Sarah Drew Recalls What Happened the Day She Was Let Go from 'Grey's Anatomy'

Sarah Drew is recalling what happened the day she was told she was being let go from Grey’s Anatomy.

“I was let go during an episode where I was shadowing Kevin McKidd [who stars as Owen and regularly directs episodes]. It was in the afternoon and I went back to my trailer and I did my crying and called my people. A whole bunch of people came into my trailer to give me hugs and cry with me and tell me they were so sad I was leaving,” Sarah recalled to THR.

She continued, “I was supposed to be shadowing Kevin this whole episode with the hope that I would get to direct an episode of Grey‘s but [after being let go] it seemed like wasn’t a possibility anymore. I wondered if I should keep shadowing Kevin. My husband was like, ‘Of course you go.’ I had this incredible opportunity to grow as a director and as an artist with a director that I respect so much. I had nothing to be ashamed of and didn’t need to hide. So that’s what I did: I showed up the next morning at 6 a.m. and shadowed Kevin until I got cast as Cagney and had to leave to go shoot CBS’ Cagney and Lacey.”

Sarah also said, “[Being let go] was painful when it happened but, in retrospect, I think it would have been hard for me to walk away from that job. I was on it for nine years. It feels right and it feels like a good time to move onto something else with all the great love in my heart that I have for everybody and respect and gratitude for what that experience was. Playing a character for nine years is a long haul.”

As to why she was let go from the show? Sarah said, “I was told that the show had too many characters and that they needed to downsize because they couldn’t service all of the characters effectively. They didn’t want any of us to be left in the background and not getting much of a story. Because there were so many series regulars, they needed to downsize and to find some characters that they felt like they could tie up their stories well. ”

Sarah appeared on the show for nine seasons.