Camilla Luddington Breaks Down Season 21 Premiere

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers from “If Walls Could Talk,” the Season 21 premiere of ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy.”

In 2012, Camilla Luddington tested for an unsold ABC pilot called “Gilded Lilys,” a soapy, 19th-century period drama executive produced by Shonda Rhimes. While Luddington didn’t land one of the roles, Rhimes’ production company, Shondaland, soon afterward asked her to audition for the ninth season of “Grey’s Anatomy” — a show that Luddington would try to watch live every Thursday.

There was only one issue: On the Friday that she was supposed to audition for “Grey’s,” Luddington was already contracted to go to San Diego Comic-Con to promote the “Tomb Raider” video game, in which she voiced its lead character Lara Croft. After wrapping up her obligations, Luddington learned that the producers still hadn’t found the right actor to play a new intern who would become the new love interest of Justin Chambers’ Alex Karev. So, she went in for the role the following Monday, learned that she had booked it that Wednesday — and then found herself walking on the set of “Grey’s” that Friday.

It was admittedly a quick turnaround for Luddington, who is now entering her 13th season of playing Dr. Josephine “Jo” Wilson on the venerable ABC medical drama. The British actor has now appeared in more than 250 episodes, surpassing original cast members Patrick Dempsey and Sandra Oh. (Only Ellen Pompeo, Chandra Wilson, James Pickens Jr., Chambers, Kevin McKidd and Jesse Williams have logged more hours in the O.R. than Luddington.)

During that time, viewers have watched Luddington’s character transform from a fresh-faced intern running away from her past into an attending general surgeon who elected to redo her residency as an OB/GYN. “Grey’s” being “Grey’s,” Jo has endured enough trauma to last a lifetime: She was a product of rape, left at a fire station as a newborn and brought up in the foster care system; she managed to escape an abusive marriage and later watched her estranged husband die in front of her; she has battled depression; and she married Karev, only to have him leave her for ex-wife Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) through a letter off-screen.

“I didn’t even know about her backstory of being a foster child, of homelessness, until about halfway through the first season that I was on the show,” Luddington tells Variety. “And by the way, this is what happens — and this is why I love the show. So many things get revealed constantly through every season. Still, now, I’m discovering new things about her, but that was really fun.”

After being largely defined by her relationship with Alex for the first eight seasons of her tenure at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, Jo has ventured out on her own. She adopted a daughter, Luna, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and finally decided to cross the line from platonic to romantic last season with her longtime best friend Atticus Lincoln (Chris Carmack). And in Thursday’s season premiere, Jo tells Link that she’s pregnant with their child.

“I just went to a convention, and everyone was so divided,” Luddington says of the reaction to Jo and Link’s relationship. “I’m a little bit biased. I met my husband [Matthew Alan] waiting tables, we were friends and then we obviously ended up married with children, so that is very similar to their storyline. I love them together, and I think their communication is the best communication she’s had in any relationship.”

Does Luddington think Jo and Link are endgame? “I never know, because on ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ everything changes all the time — but I hope that they’re endgame,” she says.

While driving her kids home from school on a recent afternoon, Luddington discusses the evolution of her fan-favorite character, how she really felt about the way “Grey’s” chose to write off Karev, and why she thinks Jo’s story is nowhere near done yet.

You’ve now played Dr. Jo Wilson for over a dozen years. How would you say she has evolved in the time that you’ve spent walking in her shoes, and how has your understanding of her changed over time?

Initially, she wasn’t trusting at all with anybody, and she held her cards really close to her chest, and I’m so glad that she’s learned that she can be open and vulnerable. That’s not something I felt we saw initially, in the early seasons. It was something she really resisted. I feel like as time went on, I realized more of the depth of her trauma and her pain. Initially, she seemed just so combative over so many things. And over time, I think I came to understand why she had knee-kick reactions to certain things.

One thing that I think has been a huge thing that is important to talk about is her mental health journey. She realized that there was a point, a few seasons in, that she really needed help, and she reached out and finally asked for help for the first time. That was just such a transformative moment, and that’s carried her to the place that she is in now.

So much of what we knew about Jo was tied to her relationship with Alex, and it has been fascinating to see her pick up the pieces and figure out how to move on with her life on her own terms. How did you personally feel about the way “Grey’s” chose to write out Alex, and have Jo learn that he’s left her for Izzie through a letter?

It’s interesting, because on a lot of shows, you want this moment of being able to tell somebody in a breakup, or see someone in a breakup be able to say, “Screw you!” or have this whole big argument. And in life, there are a lot of breakups where people don’t get that kind of closure. So, I actually really liked that we played a breakup where someone was not going to get that last moment with that other person. So, what does that mean for that character? Well, they have to end up finding closure for themselves.

I remember when [Alex’s goodbye] episode aired, there were a lot of people that actually wrote to me on social media saying, “I know this feeling. I know not being able to have that last fight or that last say,” and just kind of having to find that themselves. I feel like it’s not so common to see that kind of breakup on TV, so I enjoyed it, and I liked that she ended up again having to find that for herself. That’s tough. That’s really tough. But I felt like she’s stronger for it. 

How do you feel about Jo and Alex’s relationship now? Has Justin’s absence from the show given you an opportunity to see your characters’ dynamic in a different light, or do you still have a special affection for that relationship?

It’s funny. It changes now to me that she’s with Link, because when I look back on their relationship or think back on their relationship, I realized their communication was horrible. There were so many things about her that she didn’t feel comfortable saying to him, even when they’d been together for a really long time. I feel like if you don’t have that communication, if you can’t be honest and vulnerable and you’re concealing things, it’s never going to work. What I love now is that she’s in a relationship where I feel like she can be open, things can be hard, and she can have those tough conversations. So, I feel differently playing this character in a new relationship. That’s how I reflect on the past for her. 

But do you still have any favorite moments from Jo and Alex’s relationship, despite the way they ended things?

The wedding was hysterical. I mean, the wedding was such a hot mess for those two characters that I can definitely look back on that episode and still laugh, even though they broke up. I can appreciate those moments because the whole thing was a disaster, but it was a perfect disaster for those two.

What are some of the new layers that you have been able to find in Jo in recent years, particularly as she has evolved away from Alex and into the woman she is now?

As time has gone on, I feel like there were moments where she didn’t know what she wanted in life. So I feel like as the character has developed, what you see more and more — and what I found as an actress — is that she realized what she deserves and exactly what she wants out of life. What’s so funny is, I went back and watched some episodes of the earlier seasons, and you can tell that she’s kind of lost, even in her career. And I love this moment during the pandemic when she was like, “I want joy. Actually, this [current job] is not what I want anymore.” So that’s what I continue to find as an actress with her, is that she stumbles upon, over and over, these kinds of hard turns in her life where it’s like a fork in the road — and she can make that decision. I can’t say in the earlier seasons that she really was able to make those decisions from a really healthy place for herself.

Let’s talk about one of those life-changing, fork-in-the-road moments: Jo is pregnant with Link’s baby! How did you personally react to this storyline at the end of last season, and how will Jo’s pregnancy affect her relationship with Link going forward?

I’m not allowed to reveal where the story goes, because it could go many ways with a pregnancy, and you’ll discover that, obviously, in our premiere and moving forward. But I’ve always wanted Jo to have a big family, because I think that’s something that she wants too. So, I was so excited — and I was really excited that it was with Link. He’s her best friend. It felt very romantic and I love the two of them together. I feel like they have such a healthy relationship, so I was game as long as they’re game. So far it’s been really smooth sailing with those two as a couple, and this season you’ll see it get a lot more rocky.

There was recently a story about how one of the ways the “Grey’s” producers are handling a reduced budget for Season 21 is by not having all the actors in every episode. For instance, Owen (McKidd) and Teddy (Kim Raver) don’t appear in the premiere. Is that the case for you as well? Will we not see Jo in every episode this season?

You won’t be seeing Jo in every episode this season. But I will say one thing that I feel like it kind of does is that you see in the episodes that we are in, you’re getting a lot of story condensed into it. So, I hope fans don’t feel like they’re missing out on seeing any of these characters’ storylines. I just left a table read, and we were all just literally walking out talking about how absolutely incredible this season is. It’s packed with so much story for every character. It definitely does not feel like someone’s storyline is less-than in any way this season, and fans will get to see that. 

One of the key tenets of being an actor is you want to be able to play as many different kinds of characters as possible, but you have the distinct privilege of being able to play a character all the way through — to the point where she does start to feel like a real person, like she’s a part of you. What has it been like for you to grow with your character, and why have you chosen to stay on “Grey’s” when a lot of your co-stars have left to seek out different opportunities?

For me, if I didn’t feel pushed creatively, it would feel like, “OK, maybe now is the time to leave.” But I can say that every single season, the writers come up with such interesting material to play that I feel like there’s still more story for her. I do think it’s crazy, obviously, playing a character for this long, because you almost end up growing up together and having these moments where your lives are parallel. For example, the same time on the show that Jo had a one-year-old that she was up all night with and she was exhausted, I also had my one-year-old that I was up all night with and I was exhausted. So, this very strange thing happens when you’re playing characters for this long — where sometimes your life kind of goes in and out and is parallel to the other. But I consider it a privilege to be in a position where I get to play somebody this long.

How long do you hope to stay on “Grey’s”? Are you the kind of person who wants to ride it out until the end, or do you think there will come a time when you feel you’re ready to say goodbye?

There’s an organic moment in a lot of these characters’ storylines where it’s obvious that they’re starting a new chapter. And if that happens, you have to be in a place to embrace it, especially when I’ve been lucky enough to be on the show for this long. But I want to continue on this ride with her. Again, with this storyline, she’s pregnant for the first time on the show. That’s something completely new and fresh for me to play, and the dynamic of a brand new relationship is too. And she’s early on in her career, so these are not elements of a character that, in any way, feel stale to me.

Looking back, is there an episode or a storyline that you still find people wanting to talk to you about when they meet you on the street?

I think the storyline of “Silent All These Years,” where Jo meets her mom, is probably the episode. We deal with sexual assault and consent. There’s a lot in that episode that really spoke to so many people, and we saw in real time, which you don’t usually see on a show, the effects of that. The calls into RAINN reporting abuse in the few days after [the episode aired] were through the roof.

You and your former co-star Jessica Capshaw, who played Dr. Arizona Robbins, recently launched a new iHeart podcast, “Call It What It Is.” What have you made of that experience thus far? Has it changed your relationship at all?

First off, we are really, extremely close, so it hasn’t necessarily affected our friendship, because we already feel kind of like sisters, to be honest. I think what it’s had us do though — and we talk about this — is it feels like we’ve sort of opened up our friendship circle. One thing that’s been interesting about being on a podcast is that for years and years and years, you’re doing interviews and you sort of have this etiquette, I guess, to doing press. And more so when you’re doing something like a podcast, you have to shed that feeling and get really vulnerable, because you’re talking about more personal things. Right now, we’re talking about Jo Wilson and her experience. And on a podcast, I’m having to talk about me, Camilla — so that’s something that Jessica and I are learning to do together, and I think that it’s just been this really cool journey for us to do together.

This interview has been edited and condensed.