Revisit Jason George, Jaina Lee Ortiz and Boris Kodjoe over seven seasons of “Station 19”
LOS ANGELES — After seven seasons, “Station 19,” the spin-off of long-running hit “Grey’s Anatomy,” is coming to an end.
On The Red Carpet is taking a look back at our interviews with the cast, starting in 2018.
During their very first interview for the series, the show hadn’t even been named!
Entertainment reporter George Pennacchio suggested one. “I like ‘Station 19,'” he said. “‘Station 19,’ that was one of the options!” Jaina Lee Ortiz, who plays Andrea Herrera, exclaimed. “I kid you not, last night my wife was throwing that out,” Jason George, who plays Ben Warren, added. Oh, to see how far they’ve come.
As Ben got his bearings throughout season one, George explained, “Ben’s where he’s supposed to be. Now, how Bailey feels about it? That’s a whole other conversation.”
Being a Shondaland show, Ortiz added that, like “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Station 19” is able to “put women at the forefront and show that they are these powerful, intelligent, fearless and fierce women who aren’t afraid to stand up for what they want.”
While the world grappled with COVID-19, the show wanted to highlight the efforts of first responders, while also adding a lot more “joy and humor” into the season.
Fan favorite actress Stefania Spampinato joined the series as a regular in season four, where audiences could “see more of Maya and Carina’s relationship and how that sort of evolves with the season,” Ortiz explained.
As they moved through season four, Boris Kodjoe, who plays Robert Sullivan said, “just keep your tissues handy, right. Just keep them close. There’s always going to be crying. There’s always going to be laughter, and there’s always going to be heartwarming moments,” and boy was that true.
Never one to shy away from the tough topics, “Station 19” allowed the cast and crew to “tackle these adversities and challenges individually as characters and going through our own stuff, and then at the end, no matter what, we always comes together as a team and, we sort of battle for the greater good,” Kodjoe reflected.
We left season six on a cliffhanger.
George explained, “Relationships hung in the balance. Lives hung in the balance, so the first episode is going to tell you who exactly makes it out of that building.”
“We have our own, specific, die-hard fans that are amazing and have shown us the love coming into this last season, and that’s been really special and beautiful,” he added.
George and Ortiz could not be more thankful for their experiences on the show. He concluded, “The friendships on the screen are real. We’ve loved going to work every day for the last seven seasons.”
Watch the two-part series finale, starting Thursday, May 23 and concluding Thursday, May 30 at 10/9c on ABC, and stream the next day on Hulu.
