The fan favorite bid farewell to medical drama after 12 seasons.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: We’re delighted Jackson got a happy ending but still a heartbroken he’s gone.
How does it feel now that your last episode has aired?
Jesse Williams on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’.Richard Cartwright/ABC
JESSE WILLIAMS:I feel great.
That really impacted me.
So it was pretty collaborative?
Were you involved in shaping Jackson’s exit story?Oh, entirely collaborative.
I was directly involved in all of that language.
So it’s just really beautiful for that to be acknowledged, and to feel included.
It’s a privilege.
I’ve found that people are really relating to it.
I’m also just so happy that Jackson didn’t die.
That was a relief.
Did you know going into this season that it was going to be your last?
Or when did that decision happen?
I think it was at some point throughout the season.
It was something that was kicked around and occurred naturally in terms of what his journey would be.
The last couple years there’s been a lot of personal journey for him.
He’s escaped and left relationships and gone into the woods, and he’s clearly going through something.
He hasn’t been able to form a solid relationship since April, either romantic or even platonic.
He’d really become this introverted person who just does his work.
So it just kind of found itself.
Were you also happy that Jackson and April found their way back together potentially romantically?
How was working with Sarah Drew again?
I mean, I love her.
I love how comfortable I can feel with somebody on set to really explore a story.
That’s a big deal.
We actually got to sit and consider it and start in one place and end in another.
That’s really an actor’s dream.
How was your last day on set, and what was the last scene you shot?
The last scene was where I’m driving around the hospital looking at the young whippersnapper interns, laughing.
I feel like someone wrote it that way on purpose…
Oh, yeah.
Kevin McKidd directed that episode.
He’s really on top of that stuff.
He was out to make you cry!
Did you take anything from set to keep?
Heartfelt letters and photos.
It was really sweet.
I’m looking at it right now, it’s sitting on my countertop.
It’s really, really sweet personal stuff, anecdotes.
It was really something.
I’m incredibly grateful.
Did they throw in those original orange scrubs?
You know what, I don’t think there are orange scrubs in there.
Sarah and I would would come into the writers' room.
We’d corner writers if we had thoughts.
We’d share ideas in each other’s trailers.
We probably cut more lines than we tried to add.
It was not about anything other than finding the truth of their journey.
The collaborating with our writers and Shonda [Rhimes] and everybody was real.
I’ve learned a lot of lessons.
We went through a lot of deeply emotional stuff.
The double-episode finale where the shooter comes to the hospital, that was really intense.
I really felt like I was in the fold.
That felt like a really big deal and welcoming moment.
And got him in Meredith’s [Ellen Pompeo] good graces!
Do you think we’ll ever see Jackson back on the show?
I don’t know.
I’m not being cagey.
I think it’s possible.
He’s not dead!
He’s still working with the foundation.
He’s everybody’s boss.
So I think it’s possible.
We’ll have to see.
