Chandra Wilson
Chandra Wilson recently celebrated a momentous occasion. No, we're not talking about the impending nuptials between her character Bailey and boyfriend Ben (Jason George). The original Grey's Anatomy castmember stepped behind the camera for the seventh time to direct this Thursday's episode, which includes a story line that she not only pitched, but also hits very close to home for the 43-year-old actress.
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Below, Wilson discusses taking another spin in the director's chair, as well as whether Ben and Bailey will actually make it down the aisle not if Bailey has a say in it! and what's in store for the returns of Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) and Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw). Get the scoop:
What made directing this episode different compared to the past ones? Chandra Wilson: Actually, this was the first year, nine seasons in, where I kind of made a pitch for a story line before the season started and they've picked up on that story line. Basically what it has to do with is cyclic vomiting syndrome, which is something that my daughter started going through two seasons ago. I was directing and going back and forth to Children's Hospital LA trying to get a diagnosis for my daughter and since then she's been on the recovery end of it. ... It's so prevalent, and a lot of people are suffering with it, and just don't have a name for it, don't have a diagnosis. The fact that we're going to be able to have a character who finds out that that's what they have, that it has a name ... that's going to make somebody sitting at home watching Grey's Anatomy go, "Oh my God, that's me!"
What else can you tell us about this episode that you're directing? Wilson: There's also fun stuff in there. This is my seventh time with Grey's, so I get to have the return of Cristina Yang to Seattle Grace, as well as some cool and sexy stuff with April (Sarah Drew) and Jackson (Jesse Williams), as well as trying to reintroduce Arizona Robbins, to get off her behind and come back to the hospital. It's a spur-of-the-moment idea that comes to Bailey, to get Arizona involved. She doesn't quite know where it's going to go.
What can you tell us about Ben and Bailey's upcoming wedding? Wilson: She's moving along, you'll see. The next couple of episodes, it's almost like pulling a tugboat to get her to cooperate, but the thing is happening with or without her, and she's got to get on board with the program at some point. Bailey can be distracted very easily, and she's already been married and done it in what she thought was the right way. It failed, so there's a lot of fear going into it again.
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Will we get to see a bachelorette party for her and what does that look like? Wilson: That would mean that she would have to come out of denial to have a bachelorette party. I think you're going to see a lot of Bailey in the hospital because that's her stomping ground. That's where she feels the most validated. Getting her out of the hospital is the hard part.
Because everyone she cares about is in the hospital, does her wedding party consist of familiar doctors? Wilson: I love that you called it a wedding party. Just getting her to the altar is the miracle. Actually in an episode, there's a very interesting way in which she coaxes her colleagues into being her "wedding party," just as indirect as she possibly can be, but it's in classic Bailey fashion.
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Grey's Anatomy 's Chandra Wilson: Will Ben and Bailey Make It Down the Aisle?
