 Justin Chambers Online EST 2007 | The Best Justin Chambers Source for 12 Years |
|
There were some technical issues with the site the last couple of days but things have been fixed. Sorry for the inconvenience.
This Tuesday was the first table read for season 11 of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ with filming starting this Friday. Grey’s creator and exec-producer, Shonda Rhimes, posted a photo of Justin and co-star Camilla Luddington.
ABC announced the Fall premiere dates for their shows yesterday, and now we know that the season 11 premiere of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ will be on Thursday, September 25th.
Canadian viewers, however, will be able to watch the season premiere on Wednesday, September 24th on CTV.
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ creator and executive producer, Shonda Rhimes, was interviewed and teased the upcoming season. This is what she had to say about the story line related to Alex.
Grey’s Anatomy’s Shonda Rhimes Teases Half-Sister Twist, Possible New Romance
How will Bailey feel about Yang giving her position on the board to Alex?
Rhimes: Bailey is not going to go quietly. Bailey has taken a lot of crap and had a lot of hits, and Bailey is done having a lot of hits. I do feel like she has been very overlooked and underestimated. She may be done with that at this point.Will Alex feel bad about this or is he ready to step up at the hospital?
Rhimes: I think Alex is looking out for himself and that is not wrong from his point of view.
EDIT: Adding the tidbit from Shonda’s interview with ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ below.
What can you say about Alex and Jo’s (Camilla Luddington) relationship going forward, especially since he may now be on the board?
Alex and Jo are in an interesting place. She is a really interesting influence on him. I don’t know that I would talk about them in terms of their relationship just yet because that’s not really the focus at the moment. His responsibilities in who he is becoming because Cristina has left him these shares and a seat on the board, what that means for him is complex. Does he want that? Is that what he’s looking for? Did he want the money grab that being Dr. Butthole provided him or does he want to be the guy who has a seat on the board? That is a big deal for him to figure out what he wants.
Another video interview was posted at french channel TF1’s site. Because it’s geo-blocked for people outside of France (boo!), I uploaded it to Youtube.
The video can be watched at the source here: Justin Chambers « Alex et Jo, la famille risque de s’agrandir !» or below.
In this video, Justin discusses the evolution of Alex and his relationship with Jo. Also, Justin speaks a bit in french.
There have been quite a few interviews that have come out over the last couple of weeks from the ABC Studios press tour, but they’re mostly in french. I’ll try translating them and posting sometime. In the meantime, here is one from Portuguese newspaper, Metro.
Justin Chambers
For almost 11 years he’s played the role of Dr. Alex Karev in “Grey’s Anatomy”. We sat down with the actor in London where he explained his motivations.
“I have gained Alex’s mannerisms”
How does an actor stay motivated to play the same character for 10 or 11 years?
That’s a good question, because I don’t know! Maybe a check and knowing you have a job? But more seriously: in “Grey’s Anatomy” we have a lot of people coming in and leaving, even in each episode. I think I inspire myself in the way they commit, by the freshness they bring. The characters that Shonda [Rhimes, creator of the show] wrote have the necessary flaws to keep the show interesting. It’s like if you asked me: “Why do viewers keep watching the show?” It also goes for us actors: if we seem to be interested, it’s because it must be interesting.
Are you still surprised by the scripts you get?
Sure. A few seasons ago Alex ratted Meredith out in a specific situation. I told Shonda that I didn’t think my character was capable of committing that kind of betrayal. It didn’t seem like him! So we both sat down and agreed on: “We’ll get him drunk, because people do stupid things when they drink.” It really is like that: there are things that we might not understand, but what my character does can affect Arizona and then Callie…
Sorry for the lack of updates the last few days, but I needed a bit of a break and now things have piled up. Today, I told myself, “Time to stop procrastinating, Diana!” lol
Justin is currently in Brussels (Belgium), but here’s a roundup of stuff that came out during Justin’s stop in London for the ABC Studios Press Tour.
First off, a couple of interviews…
Exclusive! Grey’s guy feels like an “old” TV star
Grey’s Anatomy star Justin Chambers has been playing the part of Dr. Alex Karev in the hit U.S medical drama since 2004, so it’s not surprising that he feels like “an old TV actor.”
Speaking about working on the same show for over ten years, Justin told RTÉ Ten: “I feel like an old TV actor. It’s been a great ride. It’s wild how quickly it’s gone, but at the same time, I don’t really remember life before this show. It seems like this is what I’ve always done.”
He added: “Not many people can say in today’s world that they have been part of television history for over ten seasons. I’m still excited to be there. I’m still excited to work with the people I work with. Hopefully, I will give people a good hour of TV for the next season or two.”
After a decade of playing the part of hunky doctor Alex, Justin admits that sometimes he finds it difficult in audition situations to play a different character.
Justin further stated: “Yeah, I’m a bit like Alex and he’s a bit like me, but the way we go about our world’s are different. I actually had an audition a while ago, and it felt like I was Alex trying to audition for the role and not Justin. You do wear it as a glove.
“The whole character thing is questionable to me. In the end it’s all coming from you and your personality,”
The last season of Grey’s Anatomy saw Alex striking up a romance with Jo (Camilla Luddington), and RTÉ Ten were eager to find out if their romance will continue to blossom in the upcoming series.
When asked about Alex’s love-life, Justin said: “If anything, their relationship is going to blossom. This past year we’ve seen how they’ve worked off, off each other. In their relationship, you finally have a character that is similar to Alex – who’s come from a broken home, a person who has had to work through a lot of obstacles to become a doctor.
“They complement each other. They’re going to explore more of that. Jo being there to help him with his father, to push him and sort of make amends with him, that’s just setting an example of what’s to come in the future. Now that they live together, it will explore what it’s like for him to be domestic and who knows; maybe they’ll get married and have kids. Anything is possible.”
Sky Living airs the season 10 finale of Grey’s Anatomy tomorrow night (June 18), and the channel’s site has a video up where Justin talks a bit about Sandra Oh. You can check it out at Sky Living or watch the video below.
Here are several photos fans took with Justin in London and posted on social media. Click on the thumbnails for the bigger versions.
Justin started the day at the Monte Carlo Television Festival with a press conference for journalists. I’m not sure if video of the press conference will be made available but here are a few snippets that were published on Twitter and online from it.
Reminder that this is a rough translation of tweets and articles that were published in French. lol
On past and current cast members:
“It’s pretty amazing how many people have come and gone since the beginning of the show. Many of these people I miss, like TR Knight, Katherine Heigl, Kate Walsh … I remember we worked a lot. The show became successful very quickly, but we worked a lot more at the time!”
“I would like Katherine Heigl to return. I would like for her and Alex to reach some sort of agreement. She left and it was over.”
Isaiah Washington’s return in season 10 was “interesting.”
Despite being nostalgic about his past cast members, Justin admitted that it’s a relief that the backstage drama that marked the first seasons of the show is ancient history.
“There’s a new generation of actors who have come on and it’s pretty exciting to see that they are so happy to be there. They arrive on time! They are happy to have a job! It helps so much.”
On Alex’s relationship with Jo:
Justin is very happy with the relationship between Alex and Jo. “Their relationship is strong and I think Jo really brings out the best in Alex and vice versa. They have very similar pasts and I think they will settle down.”
“ I think Karev will have a family by the end of the show. Jo is the love of his life.”
“I think next season we will really see them evolve. This is a drama so there will be problems but I really think she is the love of his life.
On season 11 of Grey’s Anatomy:
Justin thinks Bailey should have be on the hospital board(?) and that Alex will likely have problems with money next season.
He thinks we’ll discover a bit more about Alex’s family and he knows that Alex has a sister.
Other topics:
“The secret to the longevity of the show is the great diversity of the cast in which everyone can identify with someone… and also the sex.”
“I like the fact that Alex is bad with adults but so good with children”
“The older I get, the less they want me shirtless onscreen.”
He often asks Shonda what’s happening and if he’ll still have a job. Shonda would like GA to go on for as long as ER.
He doesn’t think the plane crash sidelined his character or that the death of Alex’s father has softened him.
Justin suggested to the writers bringing in Alex’s mother, but they opted to bring in his father.
Personal life
“Having a job brings security when you have a big family.”
His kids don’t watch the show and don’t really like it.
He hardly has any time for many hobbies, apart from playing tennis, or watching other shows. “I haven’t even watched ‘Breaking Bad’…”
“I always said after the shows ends I would start from scratch and go back and take drama classes. But my children are becoming more independent, why not go traveling with my wife and a backpack.”
★ In an article on why Sandra Oh deserves an Emmy nomination, Justin is one of the actors highlighted as deserving recognition for making ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ enjoyable for the past decade.
While the show itself may not yet be up to reclaiming its spot in the Best Drama race, its actors, particularly Oh, deserve to be recognized. They’re what gives Grey’s it’s heart, and without them — Ellen Pompeo, Chandra Wilson, the always-underlooked Justin Chambers — the show wouldn’t have been half as enjoyable as it was this past decade. And without Sandra Oh, it wouldn’t have even been worth watching.
Source: Bustle
★ ABC/Disney (finally) announced “Grey’s Anatomy: The Complete Tenth Season” on DVD. With the tagline “Live For The Moments”, the DVD set will be released on September 2nd, 2014.
Below is the DVD cover and the bonus features. The full press release and a bigger DVD cover image can be seen at TVShowsOnDVD.com
Bonus Features:
♦ Extended Episode “Do You Know?”
♦ Spotlight on Sandra Oh – Dr. Cristina Yang is one of the most beloved characters on Grey’s Anatomy. Get to know the actress who plays her, as we sit with Sandra and reminisce about her favorite moments and memories, as she winds up her 10-year run.
♦ Medical, Medical – The medical procedures on Grey’s Anatomy have intensified the hospital drama since day one. In this featurette, watch selected cast members get a tutorial from medical producer Linda Klein. From sewing stitches to starting a central line, we’ll see what it takes for the actors to pull off their TV surgical skills.
♦ Bloopers
♦ Deleted Scenes
I haven’t finished screencapping Justin’s scenes in the season finale of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ yet, so I’m only updating with news, mentions and a fan pic.
★ The official program for the “Monte Carlo Television Festival” came out this week and confirmed that Justin and his ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ co-star Kevin McKidd will walk the red carpet on June 10th. For more info and to purchase tickets for the festival go to http://www.tvfestival.com/
★ In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sandra Oh mentions a classic line Justin says every year. The link to the full interview is below and it’s an interesting read.
SAYING GOODBYE
OH: Honestly, around season 8, the originals were under negotiations for two more years — till season 10. And in my mind, there was no possible way that our show could possibly go on [that long]. That’s also like a safety, in an actor way. Because it’s so unbelievable to have had a job this long. It’s so unbelievable that you just can’t [be sure]. ‘Will we get the pick-up?’ ‘Maybe we’ll get the pick-up!’ You still have to do it! Can I just tell you, since, I don’t know, season 1, the classic line that Justin Chambers says every year in, maybe, February — every single year — he just starts repeating this, ‘I just need two more years. Two more years. I just want two more years.’ He’s hilarious. But with that, I knew that it was going to take a long time to start letting go.
★ Several cast members live-tweeted during the airing of the season finale. Below are the tweets where Justin is mentioned. FYI, the last scene Sandra Oh shot with Justin that she’s referring to was the surgery scene with Cristina, Alex and Shane.
This was the last scene I shot with Justin. I love you JC, you'll Always be my favorite. Bokhee my 2nd mother. And Bill for hashin it out!
— Sandra Oh (@IamSandraOh) May 16, 2014
“@karevsbutera: @JessicaCapshaw is Justin Chambers as cool as everyone makes him out to be?” Cooler.
— Jessica Capshaw (@JessicaCapshaw) May 16, 2014
“@marianagza: @camilluddington describe Justin in 3 words!! #GreysAnatomy #GreysFinale” talented, sweet and hilarious
— Camilla Luddington (@camilluddington) May 16, 2014
★ In a funny interview with “Dish Nation”, Sarah Drew played the game “Smash, Marry, Kick” and said that of her Grey’s co-stars she would ‘smash’ Justin because she loves him and he’s delightful in every single way. LOL The game starts at about 2:00 min into the video here: Sarah Drew From Grey’s Anatomy Talks About Hunky Co-Stars
★ And to end this update, here is a pic this lucky fan took with Justin on Thursday.
Just ran into Justin Chambers. Best @GreysABC day ever!!!! pic.twitter.com/S2LD0W1EPe
— Laura McCarthy (@LullyGuhl) May 15, 2014
