Jason George has been playing Ben Warren on Grey’s Anatomy and the spin-off series Station 19 since Season 6. And now that the show is in Season 20, he’s got some stories about the set. One such story was when George got to work with Denzel Washington back in Season 12. Washington directed the ninth episode of the season titled “The Sound of Silence” when Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) is attacked by a patient and is found by her fellow Grey Sloan Memorial doctors, who then have to rush to try to save her. In a new interview with the New York Post, George talked about getting to work with Washington.
“It was an incredible episode that everybody was on their best [behavior] for,” he said. “Everyone shows up professionally anyway, but when Denzel’s directing your episode, everyone came [correct].” He even went on to say that his fellow co-stars, especially the women of Grey Sloan Memorial, came dressed up for Washington in a way that they do not normally dress for their early morning call times. “I was like, ‘Y’all don’t dress up for us on the regular, ‘” he told the outlet. But George’s experience wasn’t everyone’s.
Pompeo shared on her podcast, Tell Me with Ellen Pompeo, back in 2021 that her and Washington got into a fight while on set with each other. Pompeo said that Washington was not happy when she improvised her response to a patient in a scene and gave direction to her scene partner. “Denzel went ham on my a–,” Pompeo said. “He was like, ‘I’m the director. Don’t you tell him what to do.'” But Pompeo wasn’t happy with how Washington responded to her. “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 said. “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.” But in the end, Pompeo did say that it was “an amazing experience — it really was.”
Jason Geroge Hopes Denzel Washington Will Return to Seattle
George, during his chat with the New York Post, shared that he did want Washington to come back to the set of Grey’s Anatomy. This time, he wants Washington to star in the series. George said that while having Washington direct was pretty amazing, he wants to see the actor take on the role of doctor next. “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.” George went on to share what he thinks the experience would be like. “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.
