Why ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ star Jessica Capshaw really disliked co-star Camilla Luddington when they met
Look how far they’ve come.
“Grey’s Anatomy” stars Jessica Capshaw and Camilla Luddington revealed on the first episode of their new podcast, “Call It What It Is,” that they weren’t fast friends when they met more than 10 years ago.
“I did not like you,” said Capshaw, 47. “I did not not like you.”
Capshaw, who played Dr. Arizona Robbins on the ABC series from 2009 to 2018, told her former co-star that she was dealing with post-childbirth insecurities when Luddington, 40, joined the show as Jo Wilson in 2012.
“What happened was that, when I first met you, I had maybe just had a baby and was coming back to work and I was feeling very insecure about pretty much everything,” Capshaw explained. “When you are insecure, you’re sort of just not receptive to the world and you sort of doubt everyone and everything around you but mostly yourself.”
She continued: “I think maybe that was why, when I first met you, I couldn’t see all of your inner glory. I was just focused on my own insecure feelings.”
When she returned to the show’s set after giving birth, Capshaw felt uneasy about Luddington being among the new additions to the cast.
“I might have shown up to set and people were atwitter about some beautiful new woman coming to the show,” she recalled. “Maybe I wasn’t feeling my sharpest and bestest ever, and I think that these things can happen where, all of a sudden, I was looking across at this, again, beautiful young woman and not feeling myself. I was like, ‘I don’t know that I’m gonna like her.’ “
Luddington admitted that she “realized kind of quickly” that Capshaw didn’t like her, and said that the “burger truck incident of 2012” was to blame.
“There was a lovely burger truck, and I snapped a picture of the truck and was like, ‘I’m gonna post it on Twitter, and tag Shonda and say thank you for the burger truck,’ which was very polite,” Luddington remembered, adding, “Um, someone wasn’t a fan of it.”
Capshaw said that Luddington’s picture included a glimpse of the “Dear Zoe” actress “inhaling” a burger, which upset her.
“You were eating a burger like everyone else,” Camilla told her fellow actress. “And you were like, ‘You need to ask me before you post.’ And I was horrified because I’m new and terrified, and this is Jessica Capshaw. And I was like OK, she full-on hates me because Burgergate happened and the vibes were not good.”
Luckily, the pair eventually formed a friendship after they were the only cast members to show up to a group dinner at a sushi restaurant.
“We just fell in love,” Luddington said about the start of their bond. “And that was our first year working together.”
Capshaw joined “Grey’s Anatomy” in the show’s fifth season and left after Season 14, although she recently made a cameo in Season 20.
Luddington, meanwhile, has been a full-time cast member since Season 9.
In an interview with People, the actresses explained what fans can expect from their new iHeartRadio podcast.
“We’re going to tell you what we really think and what our opinions are and what advice we want to give, but we’re not going to beat around the bush on it,” said Luddington.
Capshaw added, “I definitely don’t think that we sugarcoat it. But also I think it’s probably just who I am.”
They also confirmed that other “Grey’s Anatomy” cast members will pop up on the podcast.
“They’re family, so they’re going to be on here, and they’re going to be great,” Luddington said. “I’m so excited for them to come.”