{"id":483705,"date":"2026-05-14T04:18:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T04:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/483705\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T04:18:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T04:18:22","slug":"greys-anatomy-kim-raver-has-deep-feelings-about-teddy-leaving-the-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/483705\/","title":{"rendered":"Grey’s Anatomy: Kim Raver Has Deep Feelings About Teddy Leaving the Show"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tGrey\u2019s Anatomy star Kim Raver<\/a> knows what a gift Teddy Altman has been.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI love having been able to play this character for so long,\u201d she tells The Hollywood Reporter of her long-running role on the hit ABC medical drama. Raver joined\u00a0Grey\u2019s\u00a0in 2009 for season six. She left\u00a0the show\u00a0after three seasons, returning briefly in 2017\u2019s season 14, and then coming back full time ever since 2018\u2019s season 15. She also directed three episodes.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the season 22 finale that aired on May 7, however, Raver and co-star Kevin McKidd<\/a> ended their run<\/a> as beloved couple Teddy and Dr. Owen Hunt, respectively, when the coparents reconciled and chose each other after Owen narrowly survived<\/a> a bridge collapse and decided to follow Teddy to her new job in Paris.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe decision to leave the show<\/a> was not on the actors. Showrunner Meg Marinis previously explained to THR <\/a>that the choice was a financial one amid a shifting industry.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ll just say that playing Teddy and letting go of Teddy is a deeply felt and an incredibly emotional journey for me, because the gift of being on the show for so long and working with Shondaland<\/a>, as an actor, is lightning in a bottle,\u201d Raver now says. \u201cI went to work every day aware of what an opportunity it is. It means so much to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBelow, Raver brings THR inside the decision while sharing more of her reaction and current thoughts, and her hopes for Teddy\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n

\n\t***<\/p>\n

\n\tFirst, how are you doing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m good. I\u2019m really, really good. Thank you so much for all your amazing support over the years. I\u2019m always checking out what you all are thinking and feeling about the show.<\/p>\n

\n\tI spoke with showrunner Meg Marinis previously <\/a>and I understand this decision was brought to you and Kevin, and that it was a financial one. She said you were both pros about it. But I imagine after all these years, that\u2019s a hard conversation. How difficult was that conversation about leaving the show, and what questions did you have when they first told you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tLook, I\u2019m so grateful to have been a part of this show as long as I have been. As an actor, to be able to tell the story of Teddy Altman for this many years and go through all of these incredible [stories]\u2026 One of my favorite things that Shonda Rimes does is that she allows these characters to be messy and complicated, and make big-swing mistakes and I know that\u2019s a gift. I would go to work and just be grateful every day. I\u2019d go onto that lot, and I was so excited to figure out, \u201cOkay, what\u2019s a different way that we\u2019re going to tell this today, and how we\u2019re going to do do that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s such a collaboration. Working with Meg was so amazing. We would have sit downs where I would ask the big questions: \u201cWhere is that going? What\u2019s the overall arc?\u201d The writers room and Shondaland have always been incredible advocates for telling those stories. It\u2019s been a real gift to be able to tell Teddy\u2019s story for so long.<\/p>\n

\n\tIf it were up to you, would you have stayed on for more seasons?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI love this character. I love working with Shondaland. I hope to continue being collaborative with Shondaland in the future. I\u2019ve loved every day being there.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019ve been on this show long enough to see many other co-stars leave, and some come back. The industry is now shifting. Budgets are smaller. There are shorter episode orders and smaller ensembles. When you look back, what are you nostalgic for and when you look forward, what does it make you think about as a working actor with the future of scripted network TV?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI think they\u2019re finding ways to expand and keep telling incredible stories across the board. Showrunners are finding ways to tell stories. I feel so fortunate that I worked with incredible people like Shonda Rhimes<\/a> and Betsy Beers, and outside of that, the John Wells and Howard Gordons. Those people are finding ways to keep telling stories, and I really feel grateful I\u2019ve been part of those ensembles and gotten to tell incredible stories through incredible characters.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tKevin McKidd and Kim Raver in their final scene in the season 22 finale.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDisney\/Anne Marie Fox<\/p>\n

\n\tI understand you had this initial conversation in January. So you knew for a handful of episodes what was coming. How emotional were you acting out your final episodes, knowing that you were getting to the end of Teddy and Owen\u2019s story?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tYou can imagine! I love this character. I love having been able to play this character for so long. I love being able to collaborate with the writers room on where Teddy has come from, where she\u2019s going. Even when we were hitting sticky storylines like the open marriage<\/a>, Meg was incredible at shepherding that in a really graceful and creative and organic character-driven way. Working with this cast and all of our guest stars are incredible. I love our crew. It\u2019s an ensemble and a company of extremely talented people.<\/p>\n

\n\tWere you involved in Teddy and Owen\u2019s ending? How did you feel when you found out what they decided<\/a>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI think we\u2019ve all felt throughout the years that the endgame we wanted was Teddy and Owen. It felt really important. I love the speech last season where Teddy says, \u201cI choose myself.\u201d For me, it was really important that Teddy really did choose herself for the first time and needed to grow as an individual before she could really love anyone back. At that moment, she didn\u2019t know who that was going to be. <\/p>\n

\n\tSo coming into this finale with them leaving together, I had some really incredible conversations with Meg. She\u2019s always been extremely collaborative and sensitive to what I\u2019ve been passionate about in terms of honoring my character. She definitely heard me saying that I wanted it to be in combination \u2014 that from when Teddy said \u201cI choose myself,\u201d she really actually did explore who she is and what she needs, and she\u2019ll be a much better person in a relationship once she is on that path.<\/p>\n

\n\tTeddy really got that this season by doing these breakout surgeries and finding her own voice. Then with choosing to go to Paris to take this job \u2014\u00a0and getting to do it with the love of her life.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow soon before you filmed the finale did you get the script and read the ending?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI was filled in on some of the big picture parts. But we usually get the episode eight or 10 days before we start filming. Meg was really wonderful in talking me through, because it\u2019s really important for me to know what\u2019s happening so that I can pepper certain things into episodes before that.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s also the big joke in television. I remember John Wells telling me a story about how he told one of the actors 10 seasons in on ER, \u201cBy the way, you have a brother.\u201d They were like, \u201cI have a brother?!\u201d In your mind, you might be going in an entirely different direction. And that\u2019s great writers and great TV with the writers room. So I really appreciated that Meg filled me in so that I could prep a little for where we were heading. But I don\u2019t think I got the script until everyone else did.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow did you react when you read that they make this decision to choose each other in the end?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThe experience that I had, saying goodbye, I don\u2019t know how to describe it. Because it\u2019s such an incredible family, and the crew means so much to me, and the character means so much to me, it\u2019s not possible to just give it to you in a sentence. So I\u2019ll just say that playing Teddy and letting go of Teddy is a deeply felt and an incredibly emotional journey for me, because the gift of being on the show for so long and working with Shondaland, as an actor, is lightning in a bottle. I went to work every day aware of what an opportunity it is. It means so much to me.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen did your cast find out? Did you guys have to keep it quiet?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI don\u2019t know when they found out. That\u2019s a Meg question.<\/p>\n

\n\tWere people approaching you, what was that like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWe\u2019re definitely a close family. We do so many hours together and go through so many different things that we\u2019re all aware of how things are ever shifting.<\/p>\n

\n\tI understand the final thing you shot with Kevin was the final scene we saw, of the two of you walking away. What was it like shooting that scene, as well as shooting the scene before where your characters make the choice to be together?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThere were words [from the cast and crew] throughout filming the whole episode, because there\u2019s a real awareness of the finite storytelling of such a closeness that I have with Teddy. I get completely connected and emotional about the characters I play, especially this one, because I\u2019ve been playing her for so long. She\u2019s gone through so much; war in Iraq. It\u2019s a lifetime. Who gets to play a character for this long? So it\u2019s not only saying goodbye to cast and crew and place, but also saying goodbye to a character I feel so much for because I\u2019ve had to go through everything. <\/p>\n

\n\tWhen you picture Teddy and Owen making a life together in Paris, what do you see?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tOh, it\u2019s so good! They are living their best lives in Paris. It\u2019s as good as it was in the windowsill in the episode in Germany, where they\u2019re in the kitchen in the snow and madly in love. That\u2019s what they\u2019re doing, but they\u2019re eating croissants and walking through the Marais.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen you think about the strides Teddy will make in medicine, what will her legacy be as a doctor?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI think she\u2019s just at the beginning of a groundbreaking career. I love what Meg and Shondaland had her doing in terms of breakout medicine. It\u2019s such an honor to play these first responders and what\u2019s going on in the medical world today and actually be able to inhabit a cardiothoracic badass. I think she\u2019s at the beginning of a groundbreaking career.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tOwen (McKidd) and Teddy (Raver) leave the hospital to start anew in Paris.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDisney\/Anne Marie Fox<\/p>\n

\n\tThe door is open for Teddy and Owen to return. Meg said she\u2019d love to have you back<\/a>. Have you thought about if you\u2019d be interested in walking back through the door as Teddy, or directing? Would you come back for an arc if the story was right?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tOf course I would. I love Teddy. I love this group. Directing has been such an absolute whole new, exciting world for me, and I\u2019m so grateful to Debbie Allen and to Shondaland. That\u2019s a family for me. So yes, I would absolutely come back and would love to direct and continue the Teddy storyline whenever.<\/p>\n

\n\tHave you seen the episode yet, and the flashback montage?<\/strong> [Note: We spoke before the episode aired.]<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s written in the script \u201cflashback.\u201d I haven\u2019t actually seen that part. I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll love that. It\u2019s just so beautifully written and the fact that Kevin got to direct it is so fitting<\/a>. He\u2019s done the most directed episodes of Grey\u2019s Anatomy, and he\u2019s such a talent. We had such an incredible working relationship, and our characters have gone through so much together. The fact that he was directing it was perfect.<\/p>\n

\n\tDid that make it easier to be directed by him for this final episode?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tOh, for sure. It\u2019s second nature for him now, and I\u2019m so used to him directing. There\u2019s such an ease there. I just love that he was directing this finale.<\/p>\n

\n\tWill you continue to tune in to Grey\u2019s?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tOf course. I love this group. I love all their storylines. I love that Teddy was mentoring even to the very last minute with Blue [Harry Shum Jr.]. It\u2019s such a great little detail that Meg put in because that\u2019s also how Teddy started when she was mentoring Christina [Yang]. Even with in the insanity of what was happening with the bridge and in her personal life, she\u2019s still out there believing in others and their capability. Also with Debbie giving me the chance to direct, I love that moment in there.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat\u2019s next for you after Grey\u2019s?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m really passionate about directing, and I love acting. I want to keep doing that. I have a great time doing that. But I have the rights to this book. It\u2019s a female lead, so getting that off the ground as a series and EP-ing it and directing it, or as a feature, is my next venture.<\/p>\n

\n\t***<\/p>\n

\n\tGrey\u2019s Anatomy\u00a0has been\u00a0renewed for season 23<\/a>\u00a0and will return in the fall. read Kevin McKidd\u2019s exit interview with THR.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Grey\u2019s Anatomy star Kim Raver knows what a gift Teddy Altman has been. \u201cI love having been able…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":483706,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[265],"tags":[18,117,40211,19,17,94424,182757,44729,153596,128],"class_list":["post-483705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-greys-anatomy","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kevin-mckidd","tag-kim-raver","tag-shonda-rhimes","tag-shondaland","tag-tv"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116571007088934684","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}