Jason George is revealing the Grey’s Anatomy cast’s surprising reaction to having a Hollywood heavyweight in the director’s chair.
Oscar winner Denzel Washington directed a season 12 episode of the long-running medical drama, titled “The Sound of Silence,” which aired in 2016. George — who has played Ben Warren on the show since season 6 (and also on the since-canceled spinoff Station 19) — recalled to the New York Post how the show’s stars stepped up their game when working with the industry legend.
“It was an incredible episode that everybody was on their best [behavior] for,” the 53-year-old actor said. “Everyone shows up professionally anyway, but when Denzel’s directing your episode, everyone came [correct].”
George joked about how the female stars put extra care into their outfits, even with a 5 a.m. call time. “I was like, ‘Y’all don’t dress up for us on the regular, ‘ ” he recalled.
While George said it was a thrill to have Washington, 70, direct an episode, he would love to see him don a pair of scrubs and get in front of the camera one day.
“It’s never going to happen, but you’ve got to put it out there,” he told the Post. “I’m hoping he does it.”
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And George already has a particular part in mind for the Training Day star.
“It’s Denzel. He’s got to come in as the doctor who is that dude, and everyone’s geeked out and excited about him. He’s got to come in as the expert,” he said.
James Pickens Jr. at the Disney 2025 Upfront Red Carpet held at North Javits Center on May 13, 2025 in New York, New York.
Series veteran Ellen Pompeo — who plays Dr. Meredith Grey — previously revealed that she and Washington clashed on the set during his stint as director.
She recounted their argument during a 2021 episode of her podcast, Tell Me with Ellen Pompeo, beginning by teasing, “He went nuts on me — this is a good Denzel story.”
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Pompeo, 55, said she was shooting an emotional scene in which an epileptic patient apologized after unintentionally injuring her and breaking her jaw during a seizure. She decided to go off-script by improvising Meredith’s response to the apology and giving her scene partner some pointers.
James Pickens Jr. and Ellen Pompeo in the ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ episode “The Sound of Silence,” directed by Denzel Washington.
Nicole Wilder/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
But Washington wasn’t happy about it.
“Denzel went ham on my a–,” Pompeo recalled. “He was like, ‘I’m the director. Don’t you tell him what to do.’ ”
“And I was like, ‘Listen, motherf—–, this is my show. This is my set. Who are you telling?’ Like, ‘You barely know where the bathroom is,’ ” she continued. “And I have the utmost respect for him as an actor, as a director, as everything, but like, yo, we went at it one day.”
Pompeo said that at one point, Washington’s wife Pauletta — who is a longtime fan of the show — stopped by the set, and the actress told her about the little spat with her husband.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, he yelled at me today. Yeah, he let me have it today, and I’m not okay with him, and I’m not looking at him, and I’m not talking to him,’ ” she shared on the podcast. “So we didn’t get through it without a fight, but you know, that’s actors for you — passionate and fiery — and that’s where you get the magic, and that’s where you get the good stuff.”
Despite her heated exchange with Washington, Pompeo said that, ultimately, having the Hollywood icon take a turn as director was “an amazing experience — it really was.”
