Camilla Luddington – Grey’s Anatomy

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) Right now, I am in the middle of filming episode six of Season 11 of “Grey’s Anatomy.” I’m also in the middle of shooting the second video game of “Tomb Raider” as Lara Croft.

Q) What can you tease is in store this season on “Grey’s Anatomy” and for Jo and Alex?

A) This season starts a few hours after Season 10 ended. We’re right in the midst of drama. Meredith’s best friend, her “person,” has left and she is having huge relationship issues. So, she is there to lean on Alex in the first episode. We kind of see it forming a wedge between Alex and Jo because now Jo is seeing for the first time the depths of their relationship and what kind of good friends they are. Sometimes it can cross boundaries, which she kind of absorbs all of the time. You see a little jealousy going on with Jo. She is used to being the number one girl in Alex’s life for the last year and she kind of gets bumped for a little while.

Q) That has to be a little hurtful for Jo since it is so hard for her to open up and now someone she has lowered her walls for is letting another person steal his focus.

A) I think for Jo that Alex has kind of been her partner in crime and he also is someone…I feel like Jo Wilson isn’t the type to open up to many people and she has been extremely vulnerable with him. So, I think she is affected more than a normal person – someone who has had a family relationship in their life. She is feeling like Alex is all of that to her and now someone else is in the mix. It’s difficult for her. She doesn’t want to come across as a jealous girlfriend, but she is definitely feeling those feelings. She is experiencing that for the first time in this relationship and she is trying to be cool about it, but it’s very difficult!

Q) There is such great on screen chemistry between Jo and Alex. What is it like working with Justin Chambers?

A) Honestly, I feel so lucky working with Justin because every single day he comes to work happy and ready play. I think that sometimes makes for good chemistry onscreen, too. We honestly get along so well in real life. We joke around and are very playful and I think that translates to Jo and Alex. He’s just wonderful and what I love about Justin is that he is always up to do whatever in a scene. I remember that in Season 9, Jo and Alex were supposed to be making fun of Owen and Cristina having sex upstairs. They were making all these ridiculous noises and Alex and Jo decided to be playful and make all these farm noises and bark at them. Some actors may not have wanted to do that, but Justin is down and he is ready. He wants to be dorky in those moments and it just makes it so much easier as an actress playing opposite him to really throw yourself into those kind of scenes. He’s really wonderful. And I feel lucky that Jo is with him. It’s really fun to work with him every day.

Q) You joined the cast of “Grey’s Anatomy” in 2012. What was it like joining a cast that was already so established?

A) Terrifying! I was a fan of the show before I got on. I remember wishing that I hadn’t watched it because I was so nervous the morning I started on it. I thought, “Gosh! If I hadn’t watched it and been so obsessed with it I would be much more calm right now!” My very first scene was with Ellen Pompeo and I was just thinking, “Oh my gosh! Meredith Grey!” Ellen was so sweet and so nice and welcoming. The entire cast was like that. It was intimidating at first, but within the first week I realized how nice everyone was. I think the chemistry is so great because it is like one giant family. Sometimes when you go to events it feels like business. Last weekend I was so excited to go out to this event because it was like getting to see my family that day and all of these friends that I’ve made. It was intimidating, but they do a great job of making you feel welcome quickly.

Q) Was there anything you added to your role that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) I guess yes in some ways. I know that when we got on the show that we were told by the writers actually that they were going to write for us. So, however we were in real life and as they got to know us, they would write for our own personalities. I think there is a lot of myself in Jo and vice versa and a lot of that is because they do write to us. Specifically, there aren’t things that I necessarily changed. There aren’t storylines that I said I wanted to have happen to her and sort of dictated in that way. But there are moments with Jo, for sure. I remember last season in the Halloween episode Jo and Alex are kind of not in good shape as a couple. She shows up at his door and is kind of apologizing and asking for one more chance because she screwed up a little bit. I didn’t want her to be upset doing it. I wanted it to be from a place of strength. Those conversations happen all the time where it’s written that a character is sad or vulnerable in a scene and you want to play it a different way. That’s a conversation to have with the director. There are times like that when I get to shape Jo in the way that I want to, but again a lot of my own personality is in her because they are writing for us that way. Yes, there is definitely some of me in her.

Q) Because of Jo’s troubled past and tough exterior, do you ever think she’ll be able to utter those three little words?

A) We have meetings with the writers before each season starts just to kind of see what direction they want to go in. That’s a question I asked them. I said, “You know, Jo has never said ‘I love you.'” They were like, “Mmhmm.” I asked, “Does she say it? She’s so in love with him, but she hasn’t uttered the words. When is that going to happen?!” They are so tightlipped and they won’t tell me. I want her to say it so badly because I know she is so crazy about him and I don’t think she has ever felt this way about someone in her entire life. She is so guarded though and I think she feels like the second she says it she will lose him. Whether she says it this season, I don’t know. I am definitely wanting her to say it! I do think she is one of those people that thinks that something can be jinxed because she has had to work so hard for everything in her whole life. She is probably most fearful of losing him, more than anything else because he is everything to her. He is now family as well as the person she is crazy about, in love with and sees a future with. I think she almost feels like the second she says “I love you” all of her walls are down and she’ll be her most vulnerable that maybe she could lose him. She’s just extremely protective of herself because she’s always had to be. So, the moment she does say it will probably be HUGE for her.

Q) We have talked about Jo’s difficult history. Will we get a chance to learn more about her backstory this season?

A) I’m not sure. We’re actually not told a lot of times where storylines are going. Justin and I just cornered the writers last week and asked what they were doing for us. We said, “Tell us everything!” They wouldn’t tell us anything. We said, “Let’s go corner them and see if we can get some information!” They wouldn’t tell us a thing. So, I’m not sure, but I think at something that her past has to hurt her and come back. There have been so many Easter eggs that dropped about who she is and what has happened to her. There has been a reference to her having a sexual assault, there are references to her having been in jail and that she doesn’t know her family. There is so much to pull from there that I don’t doubt that it will happen at some point. Who that is that enters from her past I don’t know. I do know that at some point they will go there. Whether it is this season or next season (if we get one), I don’t know when it will happen. But those Easter eggs are there for a reason.

Q) What have been some of your most memorable moments that you can tease from filming Season 11 so far?

A) In the second episode, Jo is Maggie’s intern. She hasn’t worked with her before and she is trying desperately to impress her and it makes for some funny moments. Then, in the first episode there is a case that Jo is forced to work on. It is a couple of teenagers that have been very intimate in a car and are in a compromising situation. A gurney has actually fallen from another level onto the car and she is forced to get into the car with them. It is so hilarious and so uncomfortable! She really doesn’t want to be part of their situation. That was something that was really memorable to film. It took an entire day to film just because it was so dramatic and there were so many pieces to film. It will be really fun to watch!

Q) We have seen Jo focus her attention on Orthopedics more and working with Callie. Is that the field of medicine she has definitely chosen to pursue?

A) Right now, there are only two residents left so I think we’ll sort of hop around. We won’t just be with one person all season. So, you do see Jo hopping from Pediatrics to Ortho and working with Derek Shepherd. I think at some point she will choose what direction she wants to go to. Me, personally, I do hope it is Ortho because I do feel she and Callie have this interesting connection. I think that Jo does have those anger issues as we have seen before and I think she can channel those and make this a very productive thing. I think she finds Callie very inspiring and she has a girl crush. That’s how I’d put it. I think that Jo has a bit of a girl crush on Callie. I would love to see them working more together. I definitely think that will happen more this season.

Q) “Grey’s Anatomy” has been on the air for an extraordinary amount of time by TV standards. What do you hope the legacy is for the show?

A) I think it already ahs created its own legacy. I think it’s so iconic at this point. It’s a show that is coming into its eleventh season so it has been on the air for so long and yet it is still the number one show in its demo. That, unto itself, speaks volumes of how talented Shonda [Rhimes], the writers and all of the actors are. I think that people will just see it for what it is, which is a medical drama that is very romantic. I know that Shonda has come out and said that the real romance was Meredith Grey and Cristina Yang and their relationship being each other’s soulmates. I think that is something really amazing to experience over ten years. I think what is interesting is that we still have these young fans that are binge watching it on Netflix and are now sixteen or seventeen years old and invested in the show. I think that it has already created its own legacy and people will just remember it being always entertaining. It can make you laugh, it can make you cry and sometimes it can make you scream at your TV and pull your hair out. At the end of the day, it was a great love story between all of these characters.

Q) You are a part of social media. Do you enjoy the instant fan feedback you receive when episodes air and why is it so important for you to interact with fans that way?

A) I think in this day in age it is extremely important just for viewership even. I think part of the success for “Scandal” is how committed the cast has been to live tweeting every single week. You saw within the last eighteen months a ton of “Grey’s Anatomy” stars starting Twitter accounts because we wanted to interact with the fans. We wanted to make them excited about episodes, to be able to tease stuff and share behind the scenes pictures. It’s so much fun because they are so invested that it makes our job even more enjoyable. We get more excited about scenes and things we are filming because we are realizing just how the fans are invested. Again, it makes people want to live watch the show because we are tweeting along with them. I think it is just important to have that interaction with the fans and I personally enjoy it so much because I find it so entertaining and they are so creative. They come up with these pictures and they are really funny. They are great funny fans. I am always just laughing along with them. They are just fantastic!

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) I would say thank you for being so supportive. So many of you have been so supportive of me. I would let them know that I kind of do this for them. It’s very exciting to be part of projects that people are so passionate about and it kind of makes work more enjoyable because of them.