There’s a “McSteamy” answer to why Eric Dane dramatically left the hit series Grey’s Anatomy in 2012.
The actor, who plays beloved plastic surgeon Dr. Mark “McSteam” Sloan, said he was “sober” when he booked the hit ABC show starring Patrick Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo Three or four years.”
“So I have my own intelligence and I know what is reality and what is not reality,” he shared on the “Armchair Expert” podcast with actor Dax Shepard. “I was able to differentiate between the two. I was able to conceptualize what that was, keep it in place, enjoy it, immerse myself in it from time to time, and then come back to it.”
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ star Eric Dane enters rehab for painkiller addiction
Eric Dane made his television debut in the second season of Grey’s Anatomy as Dr. Mark Sloan. He became a series regular in season three. (Bob D’Amico/Disney Universal Entertainment via Getty Images)
“I don’t think I handled it very well,” the 51-year-old actor shared. “Because if you spent a full eight years on Grey’s Anatomy , that’s longer than I’ve been sober. That’s when things started to take a toll on me.”
Dane joined the show as a series regular in season three, after his character caused a stir during the hot towel scene in season two.
Eric Dane made his first appearance in season two, wearing only a towel. (Vivian Zink/Disney Universal Entertainment via Getty Images)
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Dane said he relapsed at some point during the show while trying to manage the expectations of playing such a respected and coveted character on television.
“It was so overwhelming, I guess I just wanted to pretend it wasn’t and I was comfortable with it. Pretend you’ve been there but you haven’t been there,” he said. “It’s hard to digest,” he said of fame.
For Dane, being known as one of Hollywood’s hottest television stars isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. “It’s weird to me because I’ve never seen myself that way, and that’s a real source of self-doubt,” he explains. “I feel like I’ve been cheated.”
Eric Dane struggled with his sobriety while filming the show. (Gail Adler/Disney Universal Entertainment via Getty Images)
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“My exterior doesn’t match my interior,” he added.
His character was killed in the second episode of season nine, which aired in October 2012. “Grey’s Anatomy is a world – it’s not about any one actor, the storylines are kind of… you know, going in different directions. So it was an opportunity for me to go, and I’m interested in different Something you are interested in.
But in a new podcast, Dane revealed to Shepard that he was actually “fired” from the show.
Eric Dane said he was “fired” due to salary issues. (Scott Garfield/Disney Universal Entertainment via Getty Images)
“I didn’t leave that much because I thought I was fired,” he explained. “I was struggling. They didn’t let me go because of it, although that definitely didn’t help.” (Dane went to rehab in 2011 for an addiction to painkillers.) “I started to become like most people who spend a lot of time on the show. Like the cast, it’s starting to become very expensive for the network to know that the show is going to do what it’s going to do, and no matter who they are, as long as they have ‘grey’, they’re fine.
“I wasn’t the person they hired, so I understood when I was fired. And [creator] Shonda [Rhimes] Really good. She fiercely protected us. She protects us in public and she protects us in private.
Eric Dane says ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ as he poses with Shonda Rhimes, Taye Diggs and James Pickens “The creator of “protected” him. (Dimitrios Cambris/WireImage/Getty Images)
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“I love Shonda Rhimes and she protected me, but I probably got fired,” he admitted. “It’s not as grand as ‘You’re fired.’ It’s like… you’re not coming back.”
Rhimes previously confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that Dane “has been considering” leaving the show “for some time.” At the time, there were rumors that Dane would not return due to budget cuts.
Dane did make a fantastic return to Grey’s Anatomy in season 17.
