Eric Dane’s recently announced exit from Grey’s Anatomy may have caught fans by surprise, but creator Shonda Rhimes wasn’t quite as blindsided.?“It was a thing that Eric had been thinking about for a while, but it felt like the right time to him” she tells EW. “I love Eric, and Eric and I have been working together for a very long time, so it was bittersweet. I’m happy he’s going to go on and do other things, but I’m really sad to not be able to work with him every day.”

Creatively, the timing was also right. After last season’s plane crash, which claimed the life of Lexi Grey (Chyler Leigh), many fates — including that of Dane’s character Mark Sloane — were left up in the air. And though Dane is slated to return for two episodes in the upcoming ninth season, Rhimes says his imminent appearance should not necessarily be considered a nod to his fate on the show, especially in light of the unique format of the season’s first episodes.

“When we start the season, we are ahead enough in time where we see the outcome of lots of things. And in the second episode of the season, there’s rewind — we go backwards — to where they’re still in the forest,” she shares. “So you see what happened and in the next episode, you see how we get there. That was a really great experiment for us, and we think it turned out really really well.” This approach, she says, allowed them to tackle the crash aftermath in a way that felt different from what fans saw after the equally traumatizing hospital shooting a few seasons ago.

The third episode will resume the timeline seen in the premiere, and looking ahead, she says she’s planning on using Dane’s absence to bring Justin Chambers and Jesse Williams to the forefront in a big way. “The loss of ‘McSteamy’ [Dane] is going to leave a giant hole in our world in terms of — for lack of a better phrase — man whore-ness. I’ve told the actors who play Alex and Jackson [Chambers and Williams] that we need some leading men here. We need to add to that pool, and they’re going to step up,” she says. “I think the breed of what Eric Dane did can never be replaced, but I do think there’s some room for some men at the hospital to spread their wings. We haven’t seen that in a while.”?That includes, she adds, a possible love for Alex (“I’m looking for Alex to find his person”) and exploring the dynamic between Jackson and newly devirginized April (Sarah Drew). “I think it’s going to be funny, sexy, and good,” she says.

滬江娛樂快訊：《實(shí)習(xí)醫(yī)生格蕾》中馬克·斯?。℅rey’s Anatomy）的扮演者埃里克·迪恩（Eric Dane）早前宣布將離開本劇令不少觀眾都大感意外，但該劇主創(chuàng)桑德·萊姆斯（Shonda Rhimes）對此卻相當(dāng)冷靜?！鞍＠锟藦那耙魂囎悠鹁烷_始考慮這件事了，只是現(xiàn)在時(shí)機(jī)才成熟?！鄙５赂嬖V《娛樂周刊》（EW）雜志?！拔液苄蕾p埃里克，而且我們也已經(jīng)共事了很久，所以他的離開讓我心情很復(fù)雜。我一方面為他決定繼續(xù)發(fā)展自己的演藝事業(yè)感到高興，另一方面又因以后不能再與他每天都在一起工作而感到難過?！?/p>

隨著迪恩告別《實(shí)習(xí)醫(yī)生格蕾》，馬克在劇中的戲份也快要結(jié)束了。第八季的那場空難不僅奪去了萊西·格蕾（Lexie Grey）的生命，而且包括馬克在內(nèi)的若干角色也都生死未卜。雖然目前的計(jì)劃是迪恩將繼續(xù)出演第九季的前兩集，但萊姆斯說馬克的故事不是僅用兩集就能講完的，其原因在于第九季首集將運(yùn)用一種獨(dú)特的故事架構(gòu)。

第三集又將接著第一集的時(shí)間線繼續(xù)發(fā)展。關(guān)于未來，桑德表示她正在考慮大幅度增加賈斯汀·錢伯斯（Justin Chambers）和杰西·威廉姆斯（Jesse Williams）的戲份，以此來彌補(bǔ)迪恩的離開?！案鎰e馬克，我們的世界空了一塊，通俗地說，‘惹火先生’（McSteamy）走了，我們上哪兒才找得到另一個(gè)像他那么性感的‘舞男醫(yī)生’??！我告訴阿歷克斯（Alex）和杰克森（Jackson）的演員說劇集現(xiàn)在需要男主角，他們倆都是候選人，錢伯斯和威廉姆斯肯定會努力爭取這個(gè)機(jī)會的?！吧５抡f?！睕]人可以取代馬克在我心里的位置，不過我也認(rèn)為劇中還有讓其他帥哥醫(yī)生展示魅力的空間。只是目前我們還沒看到而已?！鄙５码S后又補(bǔ)充說阿歷克斯可能會開展新戀情（“我正在為阿歷克斯尋找他的真命天女。”），與此同時(shí)，她也在繼續(xù)為杰克森與艾普麗爾（April）制造曖昧情愫?！八麄儌z會是一對既可愛又養(yǎng)眼的甜蜜情侶?！?/p>