Chandra Wilson – Grey’s Anatomy

By starrymag | September 26, 2019

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) Have you been working on anything else outside of “Grey’s Anatomy?”

A) Recently, no. I actually took the hiatus this year. Sometimes I will do work or go on vacations. This year I actually took the hiatus and I knew this season was going to be pretty jam packed with the schedule. We often double up on the episodes and then we have a lot of cross storylines with “Station 19.” I have to make sure that I’m completely available for all of the things that we do because the scheduling can easily be complicated when you have a large cast.

Q) You get to direct again this season on “Grey’s Anatomy.” Congratulations!

A) This was my twenty-first “Grey’s Anatomy” that I’ve directed. I thought I’d be done at twenty, but I keep going. [laughs] I usually do two a season – one in the Fall and one in the Spring, so they can get nice and spread out. The job always feels new every time. There are new ways of looking at stories so it’s never just like riding a bike.

Q) Talk about where we pick up this season with the show.

A) Krista Vernoff, who is our head writer now, was talking to us about last season with there being a lot of love, relationships and finding relationships and finding yourself and finding where you fit in the world. This season is more about the aftermath of all that you found. [laughs] As far as once you get to happy, and then what? And once you get the things you want in life, and then what? So, that’s what we’re focusing on now – the consequences that were made last season.

Q) We last left Bailey told Alex it hurts her more than him to have to fire him. She also said it was like she raised these children and here they are making bad decisions and she’s left to clean up after that. At this point, is she more of a disappointed parent with Alex or sad he didn’t come to her for help? Where does their relationship stand?

A) I think it’s from an administrative point because that’s how Bailey has to look at everything now. It’s about making choices that are best for the entirety. When she was going off on Richard (James Pickens Jr.), Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Alex (Justin Chambers) last season it was about the consequences for the insurance of all your other coworkers. There are big consequences for your actions. So, I do believe it is less personal and it’s more administrative. Somebody has to be around to pick up the pieces and keep everything going and stop the hospital from bad publicity and being on the bad side of the board. Bailey has all of that responsibility. As you know from her history, any type of responsibility she is given she takes it very, very seriously. Especially for her because her name isn’t on the hospital! It seems like everybody else’s name is on the hospital and hers isn’t! [laughs] She can’t be casual. She takes it very seriously. So, if there is any disappointment it’s not a personal disappointment. It’s a professional disappointment.

Q) Dr. Bailey has always struggled with putting herself first with her needs and her health, as we saw last season with her health scare and then having to fire some staff members. How will she be able to balance her duties this season while also making herself a priority?

A) I think the biggest lesson she learned last season with that, yeah, you do have to stop sometimes. Even when you think you are doing everything okay you have to self-check. It never occurred to her last season that after surviving and thriving with heart disease that she would also need to make a mental check as well. [laughs] So, you have to check on that whole person and my hope (because there is only so much that I know going forth in the season) as an actor is that we continue to show what that looks like when you have to keep checking in on yourself. We left off where she was helping Jo go and get the help that she needed. Bailey, more than anybody else, is going to understand what that means to have to take that step and sometimes you have to admit yourself in order to get back on the right path. It’s a continual journey. There is no miracle cure, per se. You check in once and you’re fine. It’s something you have to continue with and it’s something she can appreciate because it’s steps she has to take herself.

Q) Dr. Bailey and Ben have had some relationships over the last couple seasons. What are some bumps or milestones we’ll see explored for them in Season 16?

A) I would love to know the answer to that question. [laughs] I know that they made an agreement, seasons ago, that when you’re all in – you’re all in. So, there is no, “Well, this isn’t working so we’re moving on.” That was one of the things that should have been a red flag for Ben (Jason George) last season when that was an option for Bailey that something else was going on because that was against the agreement. That was against what they said they were about. I believe Season 16 is continuing in that knowledge that – “No, this is the agreement. So, we’re all in.” So, what does “all in” look like? What does it look like when you’re so afraid when somebody leaves for work every day because their job is dangerous? What does it look like when a person works long hours and they are tired because they have great responsibility? What does that look like on a daily basis when there is no conflict – when it’s just going about your daily life? That much I know. We’ll continue to explore that.

Q) Is there a chance to see more of Tuck this season and the family dynamic between him and Bailey?

A) Absolutely! We did see a lot more of Tuck (BJ Tanner) on “Station 19” last season than we did on “Grey’s.” With Krista now being in charge of both shows, I think that leaves more room for Tuck and his issues to continue on both shows. You start with one and then you hear about it on the other. Yeah, Tuck got real big real fast! [laughs] That last episode of “Grey’s” he did he was off with his new girlfriend he admitted to having and he talked about it more on “Station 19.” I’m sure there are more dilemmas that Bailey is going to have to face, having a growing young man in her household.

Q) Going into Season 16 was there someone(s) you were hoping to work with more?

A) Bailey took Jo Karev (Camilla Luddington), sort of, under her wing last season and created a fellowship for her to continue her studies. So, that is a new kind of relationship – a new person to ping pong off of. And I know that we have more work to be done. It’s interesting now that she’s Chief and a lot of her things are administrative so a lot of times she’s not on the floor as much as she’s been in the past to have with certainly the other residents let alone the attendings. I know there has been an occasion with each of the Chiefs that we’ve had where they get to a point where they just want to go back and do surgery for a while. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bailey goes through that as well, where she wants to put the paperwork down for a minute and do some surgery and get back to it. Because you do lose touch with all of the people that you work with because of all the administrative duties. But right now she’s got Jo under her wing so we’ll see how that goes.

Q) Meredith and Bailey have gone from mentors to friends. What does their relationship mean to you?

A) Bailey has said she sees Meredith as one of her babies at the same time she’s had to release enough for her to grow into whoever it is she is going to be. I think at the base of everything, there is love and there is deep care and deep affection for her each of her babies – including Meredith – even though she doesn’t like most of the things she does. [laughs] She doesn’t like some of the choices she makes and she has absolutely no problem telling her the things that she doesn’t like. But with family, you can be mad at each other and that doesn’t take away that you’re family. So, right now Bailey is really mad. And you’re going to see that, certainly at the beginning of the season, that she has no tolerance and patience for people that aren’t paying any attention to consequence at all – including Meredith.

Q) Bailey continues to prove herself as a “strong female character.” What is it about her that really makes her embody this ideal?

A) I think it’s about perseverance and I think it’s about taking your scrapes, taking your bumps and taking your hits and still having to get up and go to work the next day anyway. That’s where strength comes from. It’s not persona that she embodies or the way she treats anybody. It’s because when you let life happen and you get up every new day that you have and you try it again. That, ultimately, ends up being the best that we can do for ourselves that ends up being our greatest show of strength – that we endure and that we persevere.

Q) Is there a storyline or arc you’d like to maybe see for future Bailey?

A) Wow! I’m not quite sure. In all the years I’ve been there I’ve always gone into the writers’ room once with a storyline idea because I feel like if it’s not broke don’t fix it. [laughs] So, I’ve always kind of left that up to them. I am not quite sure what that story is that Bailey needs to tell because I continue to be surprised at every table read with her take on things. [laughs] Where the writers see her going and that’s the part that keeps it exciting for me, that she’s not predictable. I don’t have the slightest idea what is going to come out of her mouth next.

Q) Since you are not a part of social media, what kind of real-life responses do you receive from people?

A) I still get old fashioned fan mail, which is very cool. [laughs] That’s very, very cool. People shoutout to me through other people. They still say, “Tell Chandra this!” Or, “Say this to Dr. Bailey.” Any press that we do I’m always made aware of how people feel about various storylines and as much interviews and personal activities that I can be involved with I certainly do that. I was just reluctant on the social media end, only because I watch my colleagues and it just seems like it’s so stressful because it’s a big responsibility to receive the information they have to receive and answer the things that they need to answer. [laughs] I feel really bad for them some days and I’m really glad I haven’t given that responsibility to myself. Just every day interaction is so positive and appreciative. People just want to say hey and thanks and that they enjoy what it is you’re putting out there on television for people to enjoy and I really appreciate that.

Q) Is there anything else you want to be sure we share with our readers about this new season?

A) I never can answer this question because nobody ever tells us anything! [laughs] I find out at the table read! Seriously! You would think by now there would be a big map that lets us know what is going to happen for all the twenty-five episodes. No! Even if it was there you can’t believe it because I know Krista, in particular, will watch a certain episode and she’ll get an idea about something just from seeing how these characters interact with each other. Then, the next script that we have will get thrown out and we’ll just start over again with something new. Even if the writers were to come to me today and say, “This is what we’re going to do for Bailey,” I wouldn’t believe them until I saw it at the table read. [laughs]

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

A) Appreciation doesn’t even begin to say how I feel, how we feel, about our fanbase – folks that have stayed with us the whole time and folks that have left us and come back. Folks that watched and now they have kids that watch so now they’re watching with their kids. It’s the biggest compliment to us and the biggest encouragement to us to keep doing exactly what it is that we’re doing – telling stories that allow people to kind of escape into our show for the hour that they watch. To be entertained. To be informed, to a certain extent. Many times it’s a mirror to something that is happening in their own lives or something close to them. And they appreciate the stories that are being told. We want to continue to tell stories that touch people, inspire people, that entertain people. As long as ya’ll want us, we’ll be right there to do it. We’re very, very happy to do it and I feel fortunate to be in this position.