You might not necessarily know the name Danielle Savre, but if you’re a fan of network procedurals then you’ll have seen her face pop up in everything from “Supernatural” and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” to “Blue Bloods” and, of course, the show she’s spent multiple seasons as a firefighter on Shonda Rhimes’ “Station 19.”
But Savre’s career extends far beyond “cases of the week” TV. She is a talented musician who’s showcased her skills on MTV drama “Kaya,” has become a regular of the straight-to-DVD B-Movie market and is something of a style icon having stolen the show at several Fashion Week events. And working in the entertainment industry suits her well. As she once told Millennium magazine, “Truth be told, being on set has been the only place I feel most comfortable and able to be myself.”
With Savre fast approaching the 100-episode mark as Type A lieutenant Maya Bishop, what better time than to look at her untold truth?
Danielle Savre has dated men and women
“Hi Dad, I’m bisexual. Or queer, I guess they say now. And I’m in love with a woman and I am marrying her tonight.” Who can forget Maya Bishop’s doorstop coming out scene in the fourth season of “Grey’s Anatomy” spinoff “Station 19”? And it turns out that the actor who plays the ex-Olympian lieutenant can relate.
During a 2022 Q&A on TikTok, Danielle Savre was asked whether she’d ever been in love with a woman. And after a brief pause, she replied with a smile, “Yes.” The positive response to the revelation appeared to give Savre the confidence to open up more about the subject while appearing at the Milan leg of the A Day With … convention.
Sevre was in attendance with Stefania Spampinato, aka her on-screen wife Carina DeLuca. And according to BuzzFeed, she told fans, “There’s a lot of shame that’s associated with the LGBTQ community that’s put on us. And it’s wrong, and it sucks. I felt shame because I had feelings, romantic relationships with people of both sexes.” However, don’t expect any specific details. Savre added, “I’m very private about my personal life.”
Danielle Savre has a firefighter in the family
Danielle Savre didn’t have to look too far when it came to researching her “Station 19” character Maya Bishop. For her sister Stephanie Savre is a firefighter in real life, albeit with the Los Angeles Fire Department rather than Seattle’s. And with the pair being extremely close, the actor got an invaluable insight into the dangerous job.
Speaking to Inlove in 2018, the year she first appeared on the hit “Grey’s Anatomy” spinoff, Danielle said, “The whole experience of my sister becoming and now being a firefighter has crafted my performance. I was with her through her ups and downs of fighting to get into the academy, pushing past the struggles of the drill tower and the hurdles she has had to face due to the fact that she is in a male dominated profession.”
And Danielle is now hoping to serve as a similar inspiration to aspiring female firefighters. The actor has repeatedly advocated for more women to enter the profession and alongside several other castmates, showed up in person at the LAFD Girls Camp during the first “Station 19” season. Danielle told Inlove, “Currently, there are only 7% female firefighters in the United States. The time is now for that number to change. The Girls Camp allows girls to become educated in the opportunities that they honestly never realized were attainable.”
Danielle Savre donated her eggs to her BFF
Danielle Savre might not yet have any children of her own. But in a case of going above and beyond, the “Station 19” star has helped her childhood BFF to become a dad. The actor donated her eggs to Chris Ogden-Harkins and his hubby Jacob in the early 2020s and shortly after, the couple announced that their surrogate had fallen pregnant.
Savre revealed the news alongside the expectant fathers on ABC7, “This family is about to get bigger,” she proclaimed before adding, “I think we’re hoping this makes people less scared about approaching this.” And Chris and Jacob were so excited that they even set up an Instagram profile for their baby before she arrived.
During the televised interview, Chris expressed his gratitude for his pal going above and beyond. “She’s been so open, so willing to let us share, and be excited about our journey. And letting people know who are wanting to start a journey of their own, you can do it in many different ways,” Chris said. Jacob then chimed in, “Everyone’s blown away by what you can do now with science. It’s amazing. It’s beautiful. Not to sound corny, it’s magical. It’s been amazing. Thanks to Danielle.” In November of 2021, the couple announced the arrival of a healthy daughter named Aspen Grey.
Danielle Savre dated a hockey analyst
Danielle Savre might generally prefer to keep her love life private. But as well as revealing that she’s been in same-sex relationships, the “Station 19” star also once disclosed that she was romantically involved with a man who makes a living analyzing the NHL.
In 2019, the Chicago Tribune reported that Savre had bought a three-bedroom property in the Windy City with boyfriend Andrew Contis, a video analyst for the city’s professional hockey team. Not that she’d had much chance to get settled in the place. Thanks to her work commitments with “Station 19” and “Deep Blue Sea 2,” filmed in Los Angeles and South Africa, respectively, the actor had only spent a quarter of a year there. “I just want to go back and I want to get on a boat and go on the lake and just kind of enjoy my house again,” she remarked.
According to the newspaper, Savre and Contis had spent their childhoods in the same California area but had only got together in the mid 2010s. However, the fact that there hasn’t been news, or sign, of the pair together since has led to speculation that they have since gone their separate ways.
Danielle Savre has struggled with body positivity
Danielle Savre first caught attention playing Callie in mid-’00s teen drama “Summerland.” But while the recurring role set her on the path to fame, it also contributed to self-esteem issues.
In a 2018 chat with StyleCaster, the Simi Valley-born star explained how sporting a swimsuit for a majority of her scenes didn’t exactly help her confidence. “I’m a 15-year-old girl who was on The WB, a show that people all of my age watched, and I’m in a bathing suit,” she recalled. “I’m more of a muscular build. I’ve got legs, I’ve got a butt, and I’m curvier. That was always something that was scrutinized growing up.” But that was nothing compared to when she was asked to lose a whopping 20 pounds for her lead role in MTV’s rock star drama “Kaya.” (“There’s no way a person can actually, physically be that thin and survive,” she told the outlet.) And she was later dropped by her agent after putting the weight back on.
Though body positivity was something she struggled with early on in her career, Savre has learned to love herself. As she told Retreat magazine (via Extra), “I stay true to myself and am accepting of how my body looks at any time.”
Danielle Savre was a Barbie girl
Danielle Savre soon found out whether life in plastic really is fantastic when she signed a deal with Barbie manufacturers Mattel at the age of just seven. And in a coincidental turn of events, a future co-star was also circling the same orbit. Speaking to StyleCaster in 2018, the “Too Close to Home” actor explained how she discovered on the set of “Station 19” that she and Brenda Song had something in common. “We were in the makeup and hair trailer, and Brenda was like, ‘I know you.’ I was like, ‘You don’t know me. You’re Brenda Song. Trust me, you’re way beyond me. You don’t know me,'” Savre recalled. “She was like, ‘No! Did you do Barbie commercials?’ And I was like, ‘Yes!'” Yes, like Savre, Song also appeared in Barbie ads when she was a kid.
And Savre certainly isn’t embarrassed about her toy-shilling past. The star once took to Twitter to share a throwback photo from a Los Angeles shoot advertising the Barbie world’s answer to Dorothy Hamill. That’s quite appropriate as when asked what Olympic sport she would take up by The Italian Reve, the actor replied,”Figure skating!”
