"Cried when they were shooting it": Grey's Anatomy star Shonda Rhimes makes her feelings known about Denny's tragic fate

ABC's popular medical drama Grey's Anatomy has seen quite a few deaths in its two-decade-long run. Right from Dr. Mark Sloan's demise in a tragic plane crash in Season 9 to Derek Shepherd's unfortunate death in Season 11, the viewers have been heartbroken over the loss of their favorite characters.

But do you know which character's death affected the show's creator and writer, Shonda Rhimes, the most? It was none other than the death of Jeffrey Dean Morgan's character, Denny Duquette.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Shonda Rhimes revealed she felt quite emotional during filming Denny's death. Rhimes also stated that she cherished Denny's brief yet emotional relationship with Izzie.

"I don't think I've ever gotten over killing Denny, ever. I cried when they were shooting it. I couldn't be on the stage. I cried beforehand. I knew it was the story"

Grey's Anatomy is one of the most popular long-running medical drama series that delves into the lives of the medical professionals of the Grey Solan Memorial Hospital (previously called the Seattle Grace Hospital). The medical show first debuted on March 27, 2005, on ABC. Over the two decades, Grey's Anatomy has won several awards, including the Primetime Emmy, SAG, Golden Globe, and NAACP Image Award, to name a few.

Viewers can watch Grey's Anatomy Season 21 on ABC and the next day on Hulu.

Denny Duquette died after suffering a fatal stroke, as shown in Grey's Anatomy Season 2 Episode 27

Denny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) debuted as Preston Burke's longtime patient. He was diagnosed with viral cardiomyopathy and was recommended a heart transplant by the Seattle Grace Hospital doctors. While he was at the hospital, he developed feelings for resident Izzie as the duo loved spending quality time playing indoor games in the hospital.

In a last ditch effort to save Denny's life, Izzie cut Denny's LAVD wire to secure his heart transplant operation. Denny loved Izzie and had planned to propose to her, but she interrupted him and asked him to propose after his heart transplant.

Viewers were looking forward to the lovebirds being together at last after his successful heart transplant. Denny Duquette, however, died of a fatal stroke in Grey's Anatomy's Season 2 finale called Losing My Religion (15 May, 2006). The final scene made the viewers emotional when Izzie, in her pink prom dress, hugged Denny's dead body and wept her heart out.

Denny's death severely impacted Izzie's character arc. He left Izzie with $300,000 that she used to fund Heather Douglas's surgery. The rest of the amount she used to fund Miranda Bailey's free clinic (called Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic in his honor). Thus, the writers chose to honor Denny's legacy through this sweet gesture.

In the next few episodes, Izzie, who was diagnosed with stage 4 metastic melanoma, often hallucinates Denny and feels his presence.

In an interview with the NY Post, to celebrate the legacy of twenty years of Shondaland, Katherine Heighl and Jeffrey Dean Morgan shared some bits about their beloved characters Izzie and Denny,

Morgan revealed that despite his emotions, it was one of his favourite scenes. He recalled Denny's death sequence and told NYPost:

"I can't rewatch it. It makes me cry. One, because it was so awesome and two, it was f-king incredibly sad to watch."

Katherine Heighl told NYPost:

"I remember that scene when Denny died, how stressed out I was to perform and just wanting to give my absolute best. I put all this pressure on myself to do that well. I was sitting alone a lot, listening to really sad music, thinking about my dead brother, which was fun".

What are your memories of the episode? Sound off in the comments section below.

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Also Read: What happened to Izzie and Alex on Grey's Anatomy? Relationship explored

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