When we were introduced to Lexie Grey at the end of last season, she was the girl in the bar who caused trepidation amongst Grey’s fans who feared the “McBarWhore” would break up the elusive MerDer dynamic.
Oh yes, and she also happened to be Meredith’s little sister.
Even Chyler Leigh (that’s pronounced Ky-ler) was surprised she landed a recurring role. After meeting creator Shonda Rhimes, Leigh was offered a spot as “Girl in Bar;” it wasn’t until three days before filming that she got the news. Even Patrick Dempsey, the man getting hit on, had no clue the 25-year-old actress would turn out to be his love interest’s half-sister.
“Before I even got the part, I hadn’t seen Grey’s Anatomy,” Leigh admits. “I didn’t really know anything about the show, about the characters, let alone the actors. And once I started to watch it when I knew that this whole deal was falling into place, I really fell in love. I found myself going, ‘Really, me? That’s a dream, are you sure?’”
Fans weren’t. Angry message board posts and television columnists speculated the newest cast-addition was pretty much on par with the spawn of Satan for the potential trouble she could cause between the players of the show’s longest-running storyline.
“There was a lot of bashing of me in the beginning, of not only my character but of me in general,” she sighs. “Like, ‘I don’t understand why she’s on the show,’ ‘She’s ugly,’ or ‘I don’t think she’s a good actress, I think she sucks.’ I thought, ‘Yeah, OK. I don’t need to look at this stuff anymore.'”
Grey’s fans have suffered through a lot in the past season, what with the ungracious exit of Isaiah Washington, the drawn out race for chief, an implausible fake death of a character and a lacklustre real one, not to mention an incomparable spin-off. So it’s slightly understandable if they turned their backs on a character intent on ruining MerDer, who had already suffered through near-death experiences, the return of an ex-wife and a love triangle involving Chris O’Donnell.
Thankfully, despite some awkward flirtations in the first few unpromising episodes, Lexie Grey has shifted her attention from Derek (Dempsey) to Alex (Justin Chambers), a union that Leigh hopes turns into something more than another notch on the old belt.
“She’s found somebody that she’s a bit of a kindred spirit with,” she gossips. “Because of his background with an alcoholic parent and abuse and all that stuff, for her to find somebody else who’s in the same boat is very interesting. I really hope that it can develop into something stronger and more exclusive.”
Not if Ava (Elizabeth Reaser) has anything to say about it. She’s returning to the show tonight, and will undoubtedly meet Alex’s new… girlfriend?
“I’ve got a really great storyline that I’m really excited about,” Leigh hints. “I think it’s good for Lexie — it shows a lot of her and her character; who she is and how she reacts to certain emergencies.”
If the past has been any indication, it will be with grace and a quiet strength. One of the major complaints from viewers is that most of the characters on Grey’s have become so whiny that sympathy can only be given out in small doses. While the addition of another series regular, Brooke Smith as Dr. Erica Hahn, has contrasted the rest of the staff with an assertive, no B.S. attitude, there’s a hard edge to her that makes her hard to like.
Leigh, meanwhile, is tough in an unassuming way, which fans are clearly responding to.
“It wasn’t until this past episode or so that I’ve actually been recognized out and about,” she muses. “I had been fortunately flying under the radar for a while and now I’m getting recognized. People are like, ‘I love your character,’ ‘I think she’s a great addition to the show,’ or ‘I think you’re doing a great job with her,’ all this stuff. It’s a bit reassuring that I’m at least fitting in and not being the odd man out.”
A somewhat odd statement, coming from a girl who had been a part of at least nine different TV series by the age of 23, including Aaron Spelling’s 1999 flop, Safe Harbor, the unsuccessful Fox comedy That ‘80s Show, and the 2005 Warner Brothers attempt, Reunion, that was cancelled faster than it started.
It wasn’t that Leigh couldn’t act — producer David E. Kelley (L.A. Law, Picket Fences, Ally McBeal and Boston Legal) was so impressed with her work on another one of her failed projects, Girls Club, that he offered her a permanent gig on a later season of The Practice. In 2001 she tried her hand at the movies, auditioning for a small part on Not Another Teen Movie, and landed the role she secretly aspired for— The lead of “Pretty Ugly Girl.”
If anything, it was a nasty string of bad luck and not-meant-to-be projects that blotched Leigh’s resume.
“After Reunion was cancelled I kind of got a little burnt out because I had done so many shows that just didn’t go anywhere or didn’t get a chance to,” she recalls. I got a little burnt out by the business. I thought, 'OK I think I just need some time off.'”
So in 2006 the then pregnant Leigh packed up with husband Nathan West (Bring it On) and her two-and-a-half year-old son Noah, and headed to West’s hometown of Anchorage, Alaska for a reprieve until they were forced to go back to L.A:
“We got a nice, long break. We were up there for nine months, and I had Kaylan, my daughter.”
Thankfully, Leigh came back to star on Grey’s, but unfortunately, it seems that bad luck follows her wherever she goes. Finally part of a hit series, she’s now faced with a dark set thanks to the writers’ strike.
“It’s such a bummer,” she says. “Actors like us can sort of resume life on residuals and things like that, at least we’re still getting some payment, but with the crew? They’re stuck. A lot of them, when I was on set, were pretty worried about it. They’re not going to be paid the same way we are. Everyone’s hoping for everyone’s sake that this ends pretty quickly.”
And as far as the show goes, tonight could be the last of three episodes for the season if this strike doesn’t end.
“I hope that isn't the case, because it leaves a lot of things in the air! But I guess that’s the intention of what season finales are supposed to do,” Leigh concedes.
Just when things were finally starting to get good, and invested fans no longer felt like they were clinging to a worthless cause.
“If these last three episodes were the last three,” Leigh decides, “In my opinion these are my favourite three episodes so far of the season, they’re the strongest. I really feel like I’m starting to get my footing and feeling comfortable.”
Thoughts? amber@tvguide.ca
Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays, 9 p.m. ET, CTV/ABC
Published: Thursday, November 22, 2007
