After playing Dr. Miranda Bailey for nearly two decades, Chandra Wilson has spoken up about everything Grey’s Anatomy.
Since the very first episode of Seattle Grace, which aired in March 2005, the 53-year-old actress has been a mainstay of the show, and we couldn’t imagine Seattle Grace without her.
It’s fair to say that the doctor has endured a great deal of hardship throughout her time at the hospital, but she always made sure to fight valiantly and emerged largely unhurt.
In a statement to the media, Chandra said while she doesn’t comment on the journey of her characters, she has made sure to maintain one part of her narrative.
When asked whether she has ever ‘weighed in’ to halt something that she felt Miranda would never do, she told us: ‘I’ve never weighed in that way with saying no, but one place where I do try to make sure that I consistently bring to life is her mental health care.
‘I never wanted it to be a one-episode thing, [where] she’s diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, she’s taking a purple pill, and now everything is okay. Because we know that it doesn’t work like that.
‘It became really important for me to show that she was someone in progress, someone that still had to work, someone that still has to check in. Someone that really has to pay attention. You have your good days, you have your not so good days.
‘That, storyline-wise, has been really important for me to make sure that we continue that through, and that we don’t just bury it somewhere and act like it’s over and done.’
Aside from this, Chandra abstains from any Miranda-related choices and concentrates solely on how to effectively execute the scripts for the programme.
Although she acknowledged that there have been occasions when she doesn’t ‘agree’ with a position that her character has adopted, she argued that it ‘wasn’t her duty’ to do so.
Discussing what she would like to see the surgeon tackle in future episodes, she continued: ‘Oh, my goodness, I haven’t the slightest idea, and I never have. I’ve never known what’s next for her or tried to put my own ideas into how I think she should be.
‘I think that’s worked really well for me as an actor, just to be able to take the information that I’m given in those scripts, and then my job is to figure out how to bring that to life. I have no clue where she’s going or what she’s going to do.
‘Sometimes I don’t even agree with what she does, or what she says. It’s not my job to agree, it’s my job to let you think that I do.’
Chandra recently made news when she hinted that Miranda was in for a major rollercoaster ride because, let’s face it, the past 19 seasons haven’t been easy for her.
She stated that the protagonist will face challenges “as a professional, as a surgeon, as a wife and mother,” which caused many to worry about the future.
Calming all those worries, the actress lifted the lid on what is in store for Miranda in the upcoming episodes.
‘Her mission this season has really been about highlighting and spotlighting women’s reproductive health care and how we’re falling behind with being able to take care of our women around the world,’ she added.
‘Because of the pandemic, and because of all of the emotional stress of these last three years – where medical professionals have dropped out, because they just couldn’t take it anymore and the demand from patients has increased – she’s made it her mission to make sure that healthcare professionals are ready, and are trained and are equipped to meet the needs of this very special group of patients coming our way, on mass.
‘So, with that mission, we know politically speaking, there’s a lot of craziness in the world around that. Trying to keep everything centered with being able to say, “Look, we’re talking about medicines here. This is medicine, this is health care.” Everyone’s not paying attention.
‘It’s going to be her mission to make sure that people are paying attention. Sometimes good and bad things come as a result of that.’
We can’t wait to see that unfold.
Grey’s Anatomy airs on Thursdays at 9pm ET on ABC, and is available to stream on Disney+ in the UK.
Source My Celebrity Life.