Grey’s Anatomy star Eric Dane has candidly discussed his battle with addiction and how it may have influenced his departure from the popular ABC drama. The actor, who also stars in Bad Boys: Ride or Die, confessed that he was “f***ed up” for a significant portion of his time on the show, but believes financial considerations were the primary reason for his exit.
Dane portrayed Dr Mark Sloan (aka McSteamy) for eight years, alongside Ellen Pompeo’s Meredith Grey and Patrick Dempsey’s Derek ‘McDreamy’ Shepherd. His character tragically died following a plane crash in the season eight finale.
Despite this, he remains a fan favourite and even made a brief return in season 17 during Meredith’s coma-induced visions.
Reflecting on his time on the show, Dane admitted: “If you take the whole eight years on Grey’s Anatomy, I was f***ed up longer than I was sober.”
He believes his struggles with addiction likely contributed to his departure from the series.
Speaking on the Armchair Podcast with Dax Shephard, Dane suggested he was “let go”, but also highlighted the financial implications of keeping long-term actors on a show: “I was starting to become, as most of these actors who have spent significant time on a show, you start to become very expensive for the network.
“And the network knows that the show is going to do what it’s going to do irrespective of who they keep on it. As long as they have their Grey, they’re fine.”
Eric credits series creator Shonda Rhimes for keeping him afloat during his challenging times, confessing “I wasn’t the same guy they had hired.”
Leading up to his exit from the show in June 2011, Eric entered a California rehab clinic to tackle an addiction to prescription medicine that began with a sports injury.
Although the producers didn’t directly say Eric was dismissed, the writing was on the wall following their conversations indicating he was not to return.
“Shonda was really great,” he says. “She protected us fiercely. She protected us publicly. She protected us privately.
“But I was probably fired. It wasn’t ceremoniously like, ‘You’re fired.’ It was more, ‘You’re not coming back’.”