'Grey's Anatomy' star Sarah Drew reveals why the Japril kiss on the show's 400th episode wasn't spicier: 'He's not gonna throw me against the wall'
- Sarah Drew explained to Insider why Japril's kiss in the 400th episode of "Grey's Anatomy" was tame.
- "It's: 'I'm at home. I feel peace.' It's the sigh," she said.
"Grey's Anatomy" star Sarah Drew told Insider earlier this week that she's aware fans wanted a spicier kiss between her character, Dr. April Kepner, and her ex-husband Dr. Jackson Avery in the season 18 finale. But she's very clear about why it didn't happen.
"He's been working. He's stressed out...We're not making out in the elevator," she said Thursday of the moment fans realized they were reunited as a couple. "He's not slamming me against the wall in the elevator at the end of this long day."
Drew said she knows fans are passionate about Japril but encouraged viewers "to follow the story," describing the kiss as "I'm at home. I feel peace.'" Plus, their daughter Harriet was asleep in her stroller in the elevator with them, she noted.
The actor and her costar Jesse Williams returned to ABC's hit medical drama for a much-anticipated guest spot on May 26th's 400th episode. She said that their characters were supposed to act as the "calming force" when the fictional Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital was in disarray because the residency program was being shut down and doctors were quitting left and right.
On his return, viewers saw Jackson overseeing everyone at Grey Sloan as head of The Fox Foundation, which owns a majority of the hospital. Before stepping into the elevator with April, he had just learned that Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) was quitting her job as chief of surgery. He offered an interim chief position to Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) to keep her from leaving Seattle and taking a job in Minnesota.
Drew said she'd love to show 'Grey's' viewers Japril's life in Boston
Drew and Williams have fought hard for their onscreen couple, affectionately known as "Japril," to end up exactly where they are in that elevator. She previously told Insider in a statement that for season 17, when she returned to help Williams exit "Grey's," they pitched an entirely new script than what was originally presented to them to give fans hope for the couple's future.
Fans of the fictional couple, including Williams and Drew, have been vocal about the potential idea of a Japril spinoff following the couple in Boston where they are currently helping marginalized communities find easier access to medical care.
But Drew said she doesn't have control over if a spinoff will actually happen or not. She told Insider she's open to continuing to tell Jackson and April's story in any way "Grey's Anatomy" sees fit.
"In my perfect world, spinoff or not...I would love to see some of their life together in Boston somehow. I think that would be awesome and I'm always up for it, and I'm pretty sure Jesse is too," she said.
"Grey's Anatomy" will air its season 19 beginning this fall.