During the annual Television Critics Association press tour last week, Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes was questioned by reporters about various aspects of the show and its upcoming season, including the potential romantic relationship between Dr. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) and Dr. Erica Hahn (Brooke Smith).
Her answers, while vague on plot details, nonetheless confirm that there will be a romantic relationship of some sort between Callie and Erica.
“We have a really interesting, wonderful, funny way of laying out the story of Callie and Erica that I’m pretty excited about, that I feel like is not necessarily your typical – if there can be a typical- your typical way of dealing with the storyline,” Rhimes told reporters.
While developing the story, Rhimes consulted GLAAD, who brought in openly gay writer-producers Nikki Weiss and Trish Doolan to answer questions about how they identified themselves (as lebian or bi), when were they first aware of their attraction to another woman, and whether they ever slept with a man to prove to themselves that they weren’t gay.
“What I love is we sat down with GLAAD and talked about women who figure out that they’re lesbians later in life and what that means,” Rhimes said, “and we really were able to find some really great, humorous and serious emotional stuff to play that’s going to feel really interesting and also affect their lives in the hospital.”
According to Rhimes, the new season will pick up with Callie pondering “what does it mean that she’s kissed a girl? Is she excited it about it?” We’ll also finally get to see the experience from Erica’s point of view, as well. “We don’t really know Erica’s side of the story yet, in terms of what’s going on with the two of them,” Rhimes explained.
“We’re going to watch that play out and then we’re going to watch the larger world of what happens when the two of them come out in the hospital, and what happens when Callie’s dad finds out and that sort of thing, which I think is going to be really, really interesting.”
Rhimes’ comments indicating that the show will explore “what happens when the two of them come out in the hospital” answers the most pressing question for many lesbian/bi viewers by confirming that the two women will, in fact, have a romantic relationship.
Rhimes is also interested in exploring the nauances of coming out later in life. “I think it’s very different to go from being 19 and declare this,” she said, “and to be a grown woman and declare this when your family’s already thought something else.”
When asked whether Callie is on a journey to “figure out whether she’s actually gay,” Rhimes responded, “They are definitely on a journey, and it’s going to be a really interesting one. It’s funny, the writers are really excited about it. I mean, we spent a lot of hours talking about how we’re going to do it and what we’re going to do, what might the problems be and the emotional aspects of it and the fun that we can have with it. So we’re excited about it.”
The writers did not originally plan for this story line, according to Rhimes. It developed organically from the other story lines on the show as well as the relationship between actors Sara Ramirez and Brooke Smith.
“Sara is just a fabulously comedic actress and has so much to give, and post-George I felt like she was searching for something,” Rhimes explained.
“She and Erica together – Callie and Erica together – seemed to have a lot of interesting chemistry and dynamic. And we really did start them out as being friends, and it felt like there was something more there – the same kind of chemistry that I saw between, say, Christina and Burke, before Christina and Burke got together, [so] that I wanted to play it and see what happened with it.” Both actors, Rhimes noted, were fully supportive and “really, really embraced the story line.” In an interview with AfterEllen.com at the press tour, Brooke Smith said that upon learning of this new twist in her story line, “I was psyched. I thought it was a great idea.”
When AfterEllen.com’s managing editor Malinda Lo had the opportunity to ask Rhimes some questions, she quickly zeroed in on two important ones: Are Callie and Erica lesbian or bisexual, and will either one immediately become pregnant upon coming out?
Here’s a transcript of that Q&A:
Malinda Lo: Can you tell me about how you came up with the Callie/Erica story line? Shonda Rhimes: It felt natural to us, it felt interesting and it felt like something we hadn’t done before, but it also felt like something that was true to the characters. So we really wanted to portray that in a way that felt honest and real.The fifth season of Grey’s Anatomy debuts on ABC this fall. Read our Quickie With Brooke Smith for her take on her character’s story line.ML: And how is it going to develop in the next season? SR: If I could tell you how it was going to develop in the next season, you wouldn’t have to watch next season; you gotta see that.
ML: Well, I have one question then. I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but a lot of lesbians, once they come out on prime time, tend to get pregnant really fast. It sounds weird, but can you tell me – SR: No, they’re not going to get pregnant really fast. That’s not – I can tell you that specifically, that is not going to happen.
ML: Are they going to come out as bisexual or as lesbian? SR: You should watch the show. I feel like we worked really hard to create a world that felt real and true to the characters and true to women who decide late in life that they’re lesbians. And so I feel like the way that we do it is very – for us, feels very fresh and interesting and new, and I feel like you’re going to have to watch.
