Grey's Anatomy actor Chyler Leigh reveals one regret she has about co-star Eric Dane's death
Grey's Anatomy star Chyler Leigh has explained why her season 17 dream sequence alongside her late co-star Eric Dane's had gone differently.
Dr Mark Sloan and Dr Lexie Grey (Little Grey) were fan-favourites on the show until their heartbreaking deaths in the season eight plane crash.
The pair reunited for a brief cameo as part of a beach dream sequence while Lexie's half-sister Meredith was in a coma.
However, Leigh revealed that the emotional reunion was not quite what she had hoped for behind the scenes.
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Due to pandemic restrictions, she was filming and could not travel to join her co-stars in person without facing lengthy quarantine requirements.
As a result, she filmed her scenes alone against a green screen rather than sharing the set with Dane. She told Pop Culture Brain that she is still 'really bummed about' it.
"We were filming all during Covid — actual Covid — and I was filming Supergirl in Vancouver," Leigh explained.
"I couldn't go down to be there because I would have had to quarantine [for] two weeks coming back into Vancouver.
"If there's anything that I regret, it would be not having been able to do that."
Leigh revealed that she learned of Dane's death while promoting her series The Way Home.
The McSteamy actor, 53, passed away just 10 months after announcing his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis.
"With heavy hearts, we share that Eric Dane passed on Thursday afternoon following a courageous battle with ALS," a family statement read on 19 February.
"He spent his final days surrounded by dear friends, his devoted wife, and his two beautiful daughters, Billie and Georgia, who were the center of his world."
ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that damages motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord.
As these nerve cells deteriorate, muscles weaken, leading to difficulty speaking, swallowing and breathing.
While about five to 10 percent of cases are inherited, the exact cause remains unclear. Life expectancy is around two to five years after symptom onset.
"My publicist called me and said, 'Hey, I just want you to know, be prepared that Eric passed.' Because it was going to all come out, I think the next day. I was like, 'Oh my God.' I didn't know how to comprehend it,'" Leigh recalled.
"Then I was on a plane ride from L.A. doing press, flying back to Nashville, that, all of a sudden, it just hit. I had to keep getting up and going to use the lavatory because I was just sobbing."
Anish Vij