Having recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of its premiere, Grey’s Anatomy has certainly employed many actors across its over 400 episodes, including Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Morgan appeared on the show in the early years, back when many OG cast members, including Katherine Heigl and Sandra Oh, were still part of the series. Now in its 21st season, the cast looks very different, with Meredith Grey actress Ellen Pompeo stepping away from Grey’s Anatomy to focus on other projects. However, there were plenty of actors who didn’t want to leave the medical drama.
One of those is Morgan. Of course, most of us know and love Morgan for his role as The Walking Dead’s villain-turned-antihero Negan, who he continues to play in TWD spinoff Dead City. Morgan has also played dead CIA officer Joe Kessler in The Boys and Winchester patriarch John in Supernatural. But while he may have found the most success in horror and fantasy shows, Morgan’s also proven his romantic chops, including playing Alicia Florrick’s love interest Jason Crouse in The Good Wife. However, his most famous romantic role is Grey’s Anatomy’s Denny Duquette — which Morgan was desperate to hang onto.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Denny Duquette Died Of A Stroke In Grey’s Anatomy Season 2
He Proposed To Izzie Stevens Before His Death
Though Grey’s Anatomy has had a ton of sad patient deaths, perhaps the most heartbreaking is the death of Denny Duquette in season 2, episode 27, “Losing My Religion”. After Denny, who suffered from viral cardiomyopathy, came to the hospital for a heart transplant, he met and fell for Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl). In a desperate bid to get Denny the transplant he needed, Izzie made the risky decision to cut his LVAD wire. Her gamble paid off, or so it would appear, and Denny was given his heart transplant.
With Denny seemingly in the clear, he proposed to Izzie, and she accepted. But, as we know, happily ever after was never in the cards for dear Denny and Izzie. Shortly after the proposal, Denny experiences a burst of pain, and quickly succumbs to a fatal stroke from a blood clot. After over 20 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, the image of a devastated and shocked Izzie in her prom dress, lying next to Denny’s body, will live rent-free in our minds.
Morgan Begged Shonda Rhimes Not To Kill Him Off Grey’s
He Briefly Returned In The Form Of Izzie’s Hallucinations
In an episode of the popular YouTube talk show Hot Ones, Jeffrey Dean Morgan opened up about his Grey’s Anatomy Death. Morgan told host Sean Evans that he was no stranger to being killed off a project, and in fact, the sheer volume of the actor’s character deaths was a running joke between him and his father. However, when he saw the writing on the wall for Denny Duquette, Morgan was adamant about wanting to remain part of the Grey’s family. He said,
Grey’s Anatomy I knew was something special. That’s the one time I saw my death coming and was trying everything I could do to get out of that death. That character Denny and that love story with Izzie kind of took the world by storm. I knew how f**king lucky I was to be there, and I was like, ‘Please don’t kill me! I will do anything!’… and I did, I did. I begged her [Shonda Rhimes].
Whether it was Morgan’s pleading, his popularity with Grey’s fans, or a combination of both, Morgan came back as Denny, despite his character being dead. He showed up in season 3 in the “afterlife” with Meredith following in her drowning, and, more notably, Morgan’s character was part of a controversial season 5 plotline when Denny appeared in Izzie’s hallucinations brought on by her cancer. That would be the end of the Grey’s Anatomy line for Morgan, with his last episode being season 5’s “Here’s to Future Days”.
However, Morgan’s Denny Duquette role proved to be a boon for the actor, as it led to one of his biggest breakout jobs as the Comedian in 2009’s Watchmen. Morgan revealed, “That’s what changed my life. Being Denny, where I never got out of bed, is why Zack Snyder hired me to be the Comedian.” So, even though Jeffrey Dean Morgan may have wanted to stay on Grey’s Anatomy a little longer, it looks like his career is doing just fine.