Despite Jake Reilly and Addison Montgomery’s Grey’s Anatomy shocking separation, fans shouldn’t necessarily worry that the beloved TV couple are headed for divorce.
“There’s always hope!” Kate Walsh, who plays Addison, told Variety after the Thursday, January 29, episode of Grey’s Anatomy. “Look, what she’s doing is so radically different, and everything’s changed so much. I think it’d be really interesting to actually see that transpire or see what comes of it.”
Addison fell in love with fellow obstetrician Jake (Benjamin Bratt) during the final seasons of Private Practice, her character’s Grey’s spinoff set in Los Angeles that aired from 2007 to 2013. The twosome got married in the series finale after Addison adopted son Henry.
After Private Practice ended, Walsh’s Addison has returned to Grey’s for a handful of guest-starring appearances. Her character eventually left her Oceanside Wellness practice in order to provide medical care across the Pacific Northwest in light of local abortion bans. Jake stayed back in L.A. with now-preteen Henry.
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“I really loved [this breakup story line]. I was like, ‘She should be in jeopardy,’” Walsh, 58, told Variety of Addison’s return in Thursday’s episode. “My thing is, I love that she’s doing all these things and coming back. There’s this sort of desperation, but how does that manifest in her life for real? How does it manifest at work? What does the clinic look like? Is Oceanside still [around]? What’s happening?”
She continued, “[I want] to have a little catch up and to actually see the ramifications of the choices she’s making and the sacrifices she’s making. I think a lot of people can relate to that.”
In the episode, Addison confessed to former colleague Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) that her marriage was in jeopardy because of the constant work travel.
Bratt, 62, has not made any Grey’s cameos — but the door is open down the line.
“That would be great. I would love that, too. He’s such a delight,” Walsh gushed to Variety, hinting that “there’s so many different places to go, still, with” Addison regardless of her marital status. “Well, [she went] from being the bitch in black — albeit in Fendi! I think one of the things that Shonda [Rhimes] is so great about is she would give you one character, and it’s such an archetype and you think, ‘Oh, this is the villain,’ but she always would turn every character like a bug on their back and show you the tender underbelly, or show you the humanity.”
Addison arrived on Grey’s during season 1 as the ex-wife of Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) while he moved on with Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo). As Addison evolved, fans watched her navigate the likes of various romances and infertility struggles.
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“I think for Addison, you saw her become more and more vulnerable and human and fallible, but still funny and all those things that define the multifaceted characters of Shondaland,” Walsh said. “But I think the thing I’m interested in, like anybody as we age, is just the vulnerability that comes through and the fragility a little more.”
Grey’s Anatomy airs on ABC Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET.
