24 surprising things you probably didn't know about 'Grey's Anatomy'

The anatomy book "Gray's Anatomy," written by Henry Gray, is still in print today.

Kate Walsh, who played Addison Montgomery on the show, told BuzzFeed in 2017 that the show's name was changed three times before "Grey's Anatomy" was chosen.

"It was 'Doctors' and then 'Surgeons' and then 'Complications' and I was like, 'What a b------- show title!' Walsh recalled. "'Grey's Anatomy' is the perfect title."

The Veterans Administration Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center in California serves as the entrance for Grey Sloan Memorial, according to Los Angeles magazine.

But the interior shots are done on a soundstage at Loz Feliz's Prospect Studios, according to the outlet.

After over 300 episodes, Ellen Pompeo (Meredith Grey), Chandra Wilson (Miranda Bailey), and James Pickens Jr. (Richard Webber) are the only original leads who are still on the series.

She may not say much, but she's been a staple background character of the show for years.

And according to a 2013 tweet from Sandra Oh, who played Cristina Yang, Bokhee really knows what she's doing.

"The nurse in that scene, Bokhee, is a real surgical nurse," Oh wrote. "She's been with us since the beginning. She's like my 2nd mom, she's the best."

According to McKenna Princing, who wrote about being a medical advisor on the show for UW Medicine in 2017, the series employs real doctors to make sure the writers are getting some procedures and jargon right.

But until the advisors filled in the jargon, the writers just put "medical medical" as placeholder text in the script, according to show creator Shonda Rhimes' book "Year of Yes."

Rhimes wrote, "Meredith will say, 'I need a medical medical to medical!' And someone else will go, 'Well I have medical medical.' 'Well hand me the medical!"

She also revealed that on the show "Scandal," it's "political political."

To make the surgeries look real, Sarah Drew, who played April Kepner on the series, said that they use cow organs and fake blood made up of chicken fat and red gelatin.

"The smell is repulsive and makes us all gag," she said, according to RTE. "And we use an actual soldering tool to solder the organs. It smells like burning flesh ... It's pretty gross."

In 2008, Heigl opted out of her Emmy nomination for "Grey's Anatomy."

According to the New York Times, she said in a statement that she didn't feel the writers had "given [her] the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination" and she "did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials."

Per Us Weekly, Heigl left the show shortly after in 2010.

According to Bustle, Wilson (Miranda Bailey), Debbie Allen (Catherine Avery), Kevin McKidd (Owen Hunt), Jesse Williams (Jackson Avery), and Meredith Grey herself, Pompeo, have all directed episodes of the long-running series.

"Scrubs alum" Sarah Chalke appeared in the season-nine episode "Can't Fight This Feeling" to raise awareness for Kawasaki disease.

According to TV Line, the episode is based on her real-life fighting for answers about her baby's mystery illness that turned out to be the rare Kawasaki disease.

It can kill within days, but her son survived thanks to her finding a web article about Kawasaki symptoms that matched her son's.

Now Chalke is dedicated to bringing the disease to national attention, especially since there's such a short window that it can be treated in.

"The Kawasaki doctor we dealt with said they do a news story every year, and often that save lives every year," Chalke told TV Line. "So she said that this ["Grey's Anatomy"] episode absolutely is going to save lives. It's going to save some kids."

"Private Practice" followed Addison Montgomery's transfer to a California clinic. It ran for six seasons and ended in 2013.

In 2018, "Station 19" premiered, following Ben Warren as he changed jobs from doctor to firefighter.

People reported in 2009 that the fictional couple had a real wedding registry on The Knot.

It encouraged fans to donate to research organizations that Derek and Meredith would have approved of, like the American Academy of Neurology Foundation and the Alzheimer's Association.

Barco Uniforms and ABC partnered in 2006 to produce hospital-grade scrubs under the "Grey's Anatomy" label, according to Metro.

The beloved chief of surgery has been on the show since season one and came straight from Rhimes' real life, according to an interview she gave to O magazine.

"She's very no-nonsense. Dr. Bailey says stuff like 'These people are nasty — all they think about is sex while we're trying to save lives here.' My mother is definitely that kind of realist," Rhimes said.

Karev was long known for his commitment-phobe ways and fear of ever settling down.

Meanwhile, Chambers came to the show as a married father of five kids, according to Cosmopolitan. The actor later left the show after playing Karev for 15 years so he could focus on his family and other projects.

She does an awfully good American accent on "Grey's Anatomy," but you can catch her speaking in her native accent in Lifetime's "William and Kate," a TV movie about Prince William and Kate Middleton's love story.

Luddington played Middleton.

Since its premiere episode, "A Hard Day's Night," every "Grey's Anatomy" episode has shared its title with a song, according to BuzzFeed.

But one exception was made for the season-14 episode "1-800-799-7233." It was named for the domestic-violence hotline since the episode dealt with Jo Wilson's abusive ex-husband, per Glamour.

According to Essence magazine, Williams once taught high-school history before he made the jump to acting.

According to E! News, Lowe wrote in his memoir that he was offered the role of Derek Shepherd but turned it down for a CBS show called "Dr. Vegas" that failed to make it.

Instead, McDreamy was played by Patrick Dempsey.

Many people who have appeared on "Grey's Anatomy" have also appeared on Rhimes' other shows like "Scandal."

Notably, per ScreenRant, Meredith's dad is also Cyrus Beene on "Scandal," Teddy's love interest Henry is also Jake on "Scandal," and Meredith's mom is also Sally Langston on "Scandal."

And that's just to name a few.

The first season finale reveals that Derek is still married to Addison Montgomery, a fact that Dempsey didn't learn until halfway through the season and Pompeo didn't know until the final episode, according to a since-deleted behind-the-scenes video.

"They didn't tell me that was coming and I was very surprised," Pompeo said.

According to Access Hollywood, after shooting April's labor and delivery over a long 10-hour workday, a pregnant Drew went home and found herself in labor for real a few hours later.

In early 2018, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that a huge contract negotiation for the actor resulted in her being paid $20 million a year. That works out to $575,000 per episode.

As of 2019, Forbes still recorded her as one of the highest-paid actresses, with a salary of $22-million in a year.

Rhimes told E! News in 2017 that she and Pompeo decided that as long as Pompeo wants to keep playing Meredith, Rhimes will keep the show alive.

Rhimes said that means "if she wants to stop, we're stopping."

• Read more:
• Here's what all of the stars who left 'Grey's Anatomy' are up to now
• The 'Grey's Anatomy' cast when they first and last appeared on the show
• THEN AND NOW: The original cast of 'Grey's Anatomy'