The latest edition of French magazine Télé Loisirs, which came out today, has an interview with Justin and a few quotes from the interview were published on the site Pure People which is translated below.
I don’t speak french (I do know that “Dr Mamour” is what they call Dr. McDreamy, lol) so I mostly used the Google translator for this and made a few alterations but if any french-speaking fan wants to correct something, please do. Here’s the translated article:
Justin Chambers (Karev) about to dethrone McDreamy?
Wednesday, January 4, 2011, TF1 broadcast the seventh season of Grey’s Anatomy! After the incredible season 6 finale in which Seattle Grace had a bloody shootout, we find our Grey’s Anatomy heroes one month after the tragedy, still traumatized!
The program for this season, always more love and stories of complicated hearts. Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) will live with the trauma of miscarriage hidden it has not announced Derek (Patrick Dempsey). For his part, Mark (Eric Dane) tries to regain Lexie (Chyler Leigh). As for Karev (Justin Chambers), he takes on a more important role.
Moreover, while the two heroes – Patrick Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo – could be about to leave the series, Justin Chambers is promoted. When asked by Télé Loisirs, he said: “The writers also work for some time that Dr. Karev takes on even more importance in Grey’s Anatomy.”
Regarding the departure of his colleagues, he admits: “It would be odd, and even unfortunate. But fans are not afraid of changes. They want change. I add that Karev has the experience to take over.”
Whatever the outcome of the series – whether or not it will finish at the end of season 8- Justin Chambers thinks he has the right to a spin-off. “I know that Shonda Rhimes would like to work on a new spin-off that my character could have a major role,” he said.
Interview to find in its entirety in Télé Loisirs (on newsstands December 26, 2011) and return to Grey’s Anatomy Season 7 on TF1 since January 4, 2012.
Some of the article gets lost in the translation but I think we get the gist of what is being said. The original cast and ABC studios are currently in contract talks (according to Patrick Dempsey) and it sounds like Alex Karev’s (and therefore Justin’s) fate on Grey’s Anatomy after season 8 is still very much up in the air.
This sounds unreliable… I remember Justin saying how he didn’t think he would enjoy a spin-off based on his character, but I would love it if this were true.
I think if it were a spin-off where Alex is one of the main characters (an ensemble show like Grey’s Anatomy), Justin would be okay with it. I believe what he meant in the previous interview is that he wouldn’t want to be the ONLY main character on the show where he’d have to be in every scene and would have to carry the full weight of the show on his shoulders.
But it depends on what exactly he said and how he said it. It is a little hard to tell from an interview in english that was translated to french and now is, most likely, badly translated to english. 🙄 😆
However, I would be curious to see Alex in a new setting and surrounded by different characters.
Yeah, that could be it. I would rather the focus be on him than say Kevin McKidd. He’s been on the show longer and I think fans would (and should) be more interested in Alex.
Agreed on all counts but I am obviously biased. 😛
I had a feeling Patrick Demsey was not coming back. The writers should just wrap everything up and create a new show for Justin to star in. I’m sorry but the show will not be the same without it’s original actors and we already lost Izzy, George and Burke. The new characters are great but still does not fill that void.
This is my prediction-
Patrick Dempsey will be back next season. Ellen Pompeo will be back. Sandra Oh will be back. Justin will be back.
Next season fans will be discussing the same thing if the ratings hold up and ABC doesn’t have a new hit drama. Grey’s Anatomy still makes ABC a lot of money and the cast makes a lot of money off of GA besides the other benefits (stability, good work environment and so on). Personally, I’ve lost interest in the show and if Justin weren’t on it I may have quit watching already. In a way, I wish the ratings were lower so that the writers could carefully plan an end to it all instead of dragging it out and eventually probably having to half-ass an ending. I think what it really comes down to is, I’d like to see Justin on another show that would use his talent in a more productive way.