Camilla Luddington Says This 'Grey's Anatomy' Bombshell Will "Derail" Things for Jo and Alex
[Warning: This post contains spoilers for Grey's Anatomy season 15, episode 19, "Silent All These Years"]
When we first met Dr. Jo Wilson (played by Camilla Luddington) on Grey’s Anatomy six seasons ago, her history was filled with all kinds of question marks. She knew that she was left at a fire station shortly after she was born, but that was it. This season, she’s made it her mission to find out where she comes from, and on Thursday’s episode, she finally took the plunge and went to meet her mom. However, instead of the desperate person she imagined had no choice but to give up her daughter, she found a successful, married mother with a beautiful house and a dog.
It only got more heartbreaking from there. Jo finally got the answers she was looking for, but they weren’t the ones she wanted to hear. Her mother told her everything: Jo was the product of rape, the man who fathered her is dead, and even though her mom tried to love baby Jo, she couldn’t stop thinking about the man who assaulted her. Then, there was Abby, a rape survivor who happened to be Jo’s patient the day she got back from seeing her mom. If you ugly cried your way through this episode, don’t worry-you’re not the only one.
We’ve learned a lot of tough stuff about Jo’s past this season, but this has been some of the darkest news yet. Seriously, wasn’t her abusive ex husband bad enough?! This week, Luddington caught up with Cosmo to fill us in on the emotional episode, what’s next for Jo, and how what she learned about her past could affect her relationship with Alex forever.
Over the last few seasons, we’ve seen more and more of Jo’s backstory revealed. How did you feel when you finally found out this huge missing piece?
For seasons, I’ve been speculating as to why she was left at a fire station. I think I’d imagined that her mother was most likely a young drug addict, or there were financial reasons for giving her up. To finally find out that this was the reason was crushing. It’s beyond painful for both Jo and her mother and not anything I dreamed had happened.
What do you think Jo expected to find when she showed up at her mom’s house?
I think, first of all, she’s shocked at the house itself. When we pulled up to film at the location and I saw how beautiful the house was, knowing that Jo had spent her childhood homeless, it was gutting. The seemingly perfect family, the dog - every part of that initial meeting was like a knife in her heart.
Why do you think she was so confrontational with her mom, even when she finally did start giving her answers?
I think the feelings are messy and complicated and rooted in a deep deep pain. Even when she’s told about what happened, she’s been living with her own sadness for years. I think it’s a tornado of emotions and they spill out in this devastating way. I think at the root of it all is a longing to be loved back. There’s a lot of despair there over the entire situation.
Jo's case at the hospital was obviously a strong parallel to Jo's mom's story. Did that make Jo a better doctor for Abby?
She was coming off the heels of listening to her own mother’s pain, hearing how she wrestled with telling anyone. When she meets Abby, I think she wants to be there for her in a way that she had wished someone had been there to support her mother. And yes, she is also a survivor of her own trauma regarding her ex. She wishes she had reported what happened to her. Maybe she can help someone else not experience the regret she has.
Can you tell me about the measures taken to ensure that this topic was handled with the proper level of care and empathy?
I know that [our showrunner] Krista Vernoff and [producer] Elizabeth Finch absolutely had many conversations with RAINN. It was imperative to the stories that we wanted to tell that the research was done.
Sexual violence affects nearly every family in America and we wanted to use our platform to raise awareness and remind survivors that they are not alone and they are believed. Part of that message ended up being portrayed in what we ended up calling the “wall of women.” Many survivors feel that their agency has been taken away from them after an assault; part of giving compassionate care afterwards is helping the survivor restore their sense of power.
In our episode you see that Abby needed to see a space that felt safe on her way to the OR. For her, that was a group of women, locked arm in arm, supporting her every step of the way. We’ve seen the power of that in past few years as survivors have stepped forward to share their stories and pursue justice. The people that “line the hallway” will look different for every survivor of sexual violence, but the support and solidarity is the same.
Is this the end for Jo and her mom (and these siblings that she never knew existed), or will we see more of this part of her family in the future?
Right now I can’t imagine how she would re-enter her life. It seemed so final when she walked away. But I would love to see them reconcile in a way that they are both comfortable with, I’m just not sure if it’s too painful.
How will having these answers change Jo going forward?
This changes her drastically. What viewers will witness is how this encounter completely takes over her life. We have yet to see Jo react to anything in this way before. It’s devastating and raw.
Do you think she will ever tell Alex what happened?
I would like for her to tell Alex. I’m not sure she can avoid telling him forever, but that’s a very very painful thing to disclose to someone. I don’t think she’s fully processed it herself yet. I think even saying the truth out loud to him would break her right now.
Jo and Alex talking about starting a family someday was actually why Jo looked for her mom...Will this change the game for "Jolex"?
I think it will derail a lot. You will see the ripple effect through the rest of the season. “Jolex” has been unshakable all season, but this does end up shaking them.
What can you tease about the rest of Jo's story this season?
I’m not sure if “look forward” is the right way to describe viewing what’s to come. You’ll see a person slowly lose sense of themselves. You’ll watch a person implode.
('You Might Also Like',)
