Grey’s Anatomy Exclusive: Eric Dane Checks Out!
Grey’s Anatomy boss Shonda Rhimes hinted that more departures could be on the horizon following last May’s deadly cliffhanger — and she wasn’t kidding.
Eric Dane, whose Dr. Mark Sloan looked on in horror as his soul mate Lexie (Chyler Leigh) passed away from her own injuries suffered in the plane crash, has decided to leave the ABC medical drama after six years, to pursue other opportunities. However, Grey’s fans have not yet seen the very last of him.
“I am extremely grateful to everyone at Grey’s, ABC and Shondaland for the experience and memories I have had over the course of this run,” Dane tells TVLine exclusively. “It has been wonderful to work alongside and learn from a creative force such as Shonda Rhimes.”
RELATED | Chyler Leigh Breaks Her Silence About Grey’s Anatomy Departure
In a statement to TVLine, Rhimes called McSteamy “one of the most beloved characters on Grey’s Anatomy.” She added that Dane “did not come to this decision lightly, but after much consideration and conversations, he and I have decided that this is the right time for his storyline to end.
“We’re a big 
family here at Grey’s with a long history together and Eric will always remain an important part of our family,” Rhimes continued. “I wish him the best and I look forward to watching him as he continues to steam up the big and small screen.”
Dane’s Grey’s doc made quite a memorable entrance at the tail end of the show’s second season — punctuated by his emergence from Addison’s (Kate Walsh) steamy hotel bathroom, clad in nothing but a strategically placed towel. The sequence became one of the season’s biggest watercooler moments and led the hottie plastic surgeon to be dubbed “McSteamy.” It also prompted Rhimes to bring him back the following season as a full-time series regular.
Mark was eventually sprung from the Addison-Derek-Meredith kerfuffle and began an on-again-off-again romance with Lexie — a relationship that ended tragically in last May’s Season 8 finale. Unlike Lexie, Mark will (presumably) survive the crash. According to a Grey’s insider, Dane — whose alter ego suffered a cardiac arrest of sorts in the finale, but was saved by a quick-thinking Cristina — will be back for several episodes in order to ensure he gets a proper farewell.
RELATED | Grey’s Anatomy Boss Opens Up About Heartbreaking Finale: “It Made Me Sick”
Dane’s departure, coupled with Leigh’s and Kim Raver’s (Teddy), means Grey’s will enter its ninth season this fall with three fewer series regulars. (The rest of the main cast are expected to stay put for at least two more years.) To fill the void, the show has hired Friday Night Lights‘ grad Gaius Charles and True Blood‘s Camilla Luddington as new docs.
Grey’s Anatomy‘s ninth season kicks off Thursday, Sept. 27.
Thoughts? Bummed McSteamy is exiting Seattle Grace? Relieved he’ll at least get a proper send-off? Hit the comments!
Follow @MichaelAusiello
Too bad. Always liked Mark. Although without Lexie and their potential reunion he was losing a bit of steam in the story line department.
I really liked him.. but he was always railroaded to the sidelines as the guy w/ one line an episode. I’ll miss him alot.
Bummed!
I can’t believe Mark is gone! Never saw it coming. I don’t care how many lines he had per show, I just liked looking at him! I hope his future is more productive than Lizzie’s. She made a few movies and now you don’t really see her so much. These stars leave a high-ranked TV program, and you rarely see them again. Should stick with what they have and ot be so greedy.
Umm… her name was Izzie… not Lizzie… And I’ve seen her in many thing recently but she did just adopt a 2nd child and wants to spend time with her kids…
She had a baby, not adopted another one per People magazine
It’s izzie not Lizzy that’s why she’s no longer on the show. Not memorable or important.
Not memorable? The Izzie / Denny storyline was one of the best and most memorable storlines I have ever seen in a medical drama before. I really didn’t care for the post denny storylines like when Izzie started seeing him and talking to him after he was dead, but that doesnt change the fact that the initial storyline with Izzie and Denny was just fantastic. Jeffrey Dean Morgan just did an amazing job with that role and they both played off of each other really really well. IMO, its easily one of the best storylines in the entire run of Grey’s Anatomy so I for one couldn’t possibly disagree more in regards to not being memorable of important. That storyline is one of the first things I think of when I think of Grey’s Anatomy.
As for her leaving the show, she did as she wanted to persue more movies and there is no denying that her big screen career never really took off like she was hoping it would, but she did wind up meeting someone, falling in love, and having kids and from what I have read she is very happy with her life at this point in time and in the end, that is all that really matters. She definitely left a VERY memorable mark on Grey’s Anatomy.
“Life As We Know It” was a beautiful example of what an amazing actress she is. Few movies have moved me to tears, but her performance in the beginning absolutely did.
She left the show because she thought she was better than it. As much as I love her as an actress more for her past comedy movie roles. She has been listed numerous times as one of the hardest and meanest people to work with. Soo I’m pretty much that’s why we don’t see her on the big screen anymore.
Totally agree! Grey’s won’t be the same without Mark and Lexie.
Mhm.
Too bad is right. This is how ER started going downhill when George left the show. In the end it wasn’t worth watching, and I’m beginning to think Grey’s has jumped the shark anyway. Some episodes and operations are unbelievable.
I was very sad to see mark sloan a.k.a. mCsteamy leave the show he was one of my favs. The show will never be the same without him i love the show so much i watch the repeats over an over.
Okay. The only way they can make his departure works is by killing Mark. I mean I can’t imagine him leaving Seattle because he’s heart broken after Lexie died and abandoning Sofia and Callie behind….I’m gonna miss him and his friendship with calzona…
I completely agree with you. It doesn’t make sense to have Mark go to Seattle then leave…he has a child there for goodness sakes. And I’m pretty sure he’s still with that other doctor…it pains me to say it, but the only way it makes sense for Mark to leave is through killing him.
” Mark will (presumably) survive the crash. According to a Grey’s insider, Dane — whose alter ego suffered a cardiac arrest of sorts in the finale, but was saved by a quick-thinking Cristina — will be back for several episodes in order to ensure he gets a proper farewell.”
He doesn’t die.
Actually, he does…
Eh! A very probable storyline would be MArk leaving Seattle to live with Addison! Kate Walsh’s also leaving PPP this season after 13 episodes.. perfect timing i say!
Besides Lexie, Addy is the only woman he ever loved! so this makes sense!
Not really. When someone loses their soul mate, they don’t typically look through their dating history and say “she’ll do.” The majority of fans don’t want to see Mark with someone else so I doubt they’ll end up together.
Relax! just a arrow wild in the air man! :p
I was/am a big Slexie shipper myself… but yeah I would like Mark to have a happy departure rather than the Romeo-Juliet style death! So keeping that in view, Addy and Mark reunion is the best solution for an happy exit for both characters.
It’s really not. In fact, it is one of the worst solutions. He lost his soul-mate. The one woman he truly loved. To be with Addison, who hasn’t been on the show in forever, would be like Lexie meant nothing to him at all. And it makes zero sense with the current storyline seeing as Addison has not been on the show or even mentioned at all. Mark’s only way out will be through death and as sad as that is it’s the only proper way for him to go. He has a child with Callie and Arizona. He’d never leave her for Addison. She is the world to him.
I hate to think of Mark dying, but I love Addison with Sam. However, what I think is going to happen to Mark, is that he’ll survive the plane crash and make a complete physical recovery but just never be emotionally right again and then start doing rash things like drinking too much and driving too fast and probably end up in an accident, be an organ donor and die.
well if you are watching Private Practice, Addy is involved in 2 other crazy love story’s so I hope Mc Steamy wont complicate more her life at this point :)
What if (this is a real stretch) the actress who plays Callie decides to leave the show or the character dies. And then, Mark after 2 devastating losses, takes his child (Arizona may not have legal rights to the child if she didn’t formally adopt her) to Seattle and he and Addison resume their relationship and raise their children together. Of course, yr right, Mark could die. Maybe from the wounds he got in the accident.
Actually, from the heavy-handed foreshadowing of Callie being so excited for Arizona to come home and the fact that Arizona seems to be the least hurt (meaning she could be in shock), I think what’s going to happen is that Arizona succumbs in the beginning of the season, leaving Callie and Mark to somehow pick up the pieces. In that scenario, them moving away might make sense.
they wouldn’t get rid of Mark, Arizona and Callie all in one. That too many people on top of Lexie and Teddy.
they got rid of teddy?
damn if they get rid of callie and arizona I will stop watching
Arizona was coughing up blood, which implies a serious internal injury. But if she dies, it strains credulity that Mark would leave Callie to raise their daughter alone. And it seems equally incredible that the show would let go of McSteamy, Lexie, Teddy, Arizona AND Callie in one fell swoop. (Even though they’ve had too many characters for awhile now.)
Really? I completely disagree. Lexie’s death provides a perfect opportunity for Mark to move on from Seattle Grace.
Yea because if the ex-girlfriend your still in love with dies, it totally makes sense to abandon the kid you dumped her over. Sophia’s 2, she’ll understand.
*you’re.
Who said he has to ‘abandon’ his kid to move on from Seattle Grace? Why can’t he not be on Grey’s and still be in Sophia’s life?? Does not compute – the show is about the hospital – if you aren’t working there, you aren’t staying on the show.
Ya but if you’re not on the show you’re not going to be in the characters’ lives that are on the show. And he’s not going to be making guest appearances so he wouldn’t be in Sophia’s life. So he would have abandoned his child…the child that he loves to be the father of.
Exactly! Thank you! He might just go to work on a different hospital but stay in Seattle or nearby. He wouldn’t appear on the show. He’ll simply get mentioned by the other characters because they would still be in touch with him.
Think about it… it makes perfect sense that Mark would want to leave Seattle Grace Mercy Death.
And for those who say Arizona is dying because she’s in a pretty bad shape— read the article. The rest of the cast has signed for two more years. Just Eric Dane, Kim Raver and Lexie are leaving the show.
Thought the same, but read the article, he’s gonna be there for a few more episodes. Maybe he kills himself. Anyhow, a bit harsh on Sofia tough.
I also think of how lonely Derek’s gonna be.
He does have a critical injury in the Cardiac Tamponade. He could easily die from his injuries
Agreed, and him and McDreamy are bff. It sounds like it was his choice, I wish him luck, no hard feelings toward him. I think he is a good actor, despite many naysayers. Just bummed Shonda screwed us fans in s8 of Slexie, minus the finale. :(
I can’t imagine he would leave Sofia and Callie either. That would be ridiculously out of character, especially after he fought so hard to keep his grandson and to be an equal parent to Sofia. If Shonda cares about being true to her own characters, she would have to kill him off.
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to see everything play out, because with this piece of news, I am officially out. The only things keeping me from leaving this show were Mark (and his fam), Lexie, and Alex. I love me some Alex Karev, but this show is now merely a shadow of its former self.
I think it is a big/huge mistake for Eric Dane A.K.A Mark Sloan to leave Grey’s Anatomy so soon like this, in order to pursue a career on the big screen! I’ve seen a lot of actors leave great shows just for this purpose, and their careers went down the toilet! If you (Eric Dane) are reading everyone’s post, please reconsider your options here;Yes you’re a great actor as Mark, but when you go for auditions, a lot of directors are just gonna see you as the guy who played a,”Sex symbol” on a series! Don’t get me wrong, I love Grey’s Anatomy, but look at the guy who played George…Do you see him in anything else? I know I don’t…not anything worth mentioning anyway, and ya, Katherine Heigle has been in a bunch of movies, but they were all the same story lines ; just different names…plus, don’t dismiss the fact that the 1st movie she did after Grey’s (Knocked up) made her famous, but she is embarrassed to admit she was in it (What a B****)! All i’m saying is, at least wait till the show is over for good to pursue the big screen!
After McSteamy & dreamy left I left also. Same old junk
nooooooooooo
That was my response too!
Seriously! I’m so sad, the show just won’t be right without McSteamy :(
My heart is broken!!! he’s my reason for watching!!!! soooo sooo devastated!!
Me too! I’m so upset about all of them leaving, and Kate Walsh, I can’t believe she’s leaving to
I am really sad with all the changes in Shondaland but happy to hear that they will give him a proper exit next season and not just let him disappear. I am still sad. Why him and Chyler? I know why but still… I wasn’t a Mexie-Shipper but I loved their characters individually and their last scene broke my heart.
And yet April Kepner is still on the show..
still trying to understand why she’s still here tbh..
Double ditto.
Worst.
I love April. She’s very funny. And Sarah Drew is an amazing actress.
Agree love April!
One of my favorite characters on the show love her.
Her and Jackson were really the only thing that gave me pause from deleting Grey’s from the DVR when Lexie died. With Mark gone, I definitely will though.
I liked Sarah on Everwood. Hated her on SPN, and PP, and when I buy Everwood s3 and s4 will prob now not like her. She is a good actress, though.
Really? I love April. I find her hilarious. To each his own I guess.
This is a little mean, but I don’t understand why Eric Dane and Chyler Leigh decided to leave. They say that this is not the last we’ll see of them, but it probably is. I have a feeling that Grey’s is going to be like Friends with hardly anyone finding success after the show. At least with Grey’s they could have two more years of being on a popular show. I love the show, but I’m not ignorant of the fact that the acting by the majority of the cast is not of the highest caliber. I think it is highly unlikely that either Dane or Chyler will have this much success again. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be proven wrong.
I think Chyler chose to leave because of her family, not her career.
MY GIRL CHYLER WILL FIND ANOTHER JOB AND BE SUCCESSFUL. SHE AN AMAZING ACTRESS AND SINGER
Matt LeBlanc has Episodes, Jennifer Annisten has a film career, Lisa Kudrow has a very modest film career, Matthew Perry is guest starring on the Good Wife, Courtney Cox has/had Cougar Town, and David Schwimmer is a film director. They have all had success after Friends especially Jennifer Annisten and Matt LeBlanc. Maybe they do not have the same success they had with Friends but to say they harldy found any success is just flat wrong. All that being said, yeah I don’t expect to see Eric Dane for a while.
Thank you. I was hoping someone would correctly point out that all of the Friends actors are doing just fine and have each had success in some way since Friends ended. Terrible example to use.
As much as I loved Friends, the actors aren’t nearly as big as they were during the Friends era. Jennifer Aniston is probably the most successful, but are her movies really in good? Matt LeBlanc bombed with Joey. He has Episodes now which has critical acclaim, but how many people actually watch it? Courtney Cox’s show is so successful (5 million viewers last season), it’s moving off network television to TBS. Matthew Perry had Studio 60 and Mr. Sunshine which didn’t last more than a season. We’ll see how his new show turns out. David Schwimmer is a director? That’s news to me. Lisa Kudrow has a modest film career. I think you hit the nail on the head with that, modest. Other than Aniston, all of these actors have modest success. That’s the point I was trying to make with Dane and Chyler. It’s unlikely they’re going to be huge stars like Will Smith, Steve Carell, or Michael J Fox. They’ll probably be around for awhile, but as far as the most successful point in their careers. It’s probably already passed.
Ughhh I loved mark! But for real…April needs to go somewhere she is the worst character EVER thought of..almost as bad as her best friend who was shot in the head..another bad one.
A thing I’ll never understand
It’s inexplicable really.
If only Gary Clark had shot her too.
April and Jackson definitely need to go too.
Jackson has to stay! The show still needs some hot young eye candy!
I like April :( Don’t get me wrong, I liked Mark and Lexie too. But I wonder if people would have been happy with Karev dying after two seasons on the show. In season 3 he came into his own. Callie took a while to really feel like she wasn’t an outcast in the ensemble too. Thats what I hope to see with April this season.
I love her 2. She’s annoying sometimes, I admit. But she’s a gret heart, she’s always trying to help everyone, even Karev, who is an ass to everyone.
The more people hate on April, the more I love her tbh
Totally agree. I love April more than ever.
Read your reply and laughed. so true. what a useless character.
have you been watching the last season? April has been one of the few good parts of the show
April, Lucy and the Mark Cal Arizona triangle ruined s7 for me. Just terrible.
Yep..cause the actress wants to stick around contrary to those who do not. April could leave tomorrow, it still wouldn’t bring any of our beloved characters back. They made a choice to leave..it’s simple as that.
Shush with your logic! Don’t you know that Sarah Drew is evil and keeping the “beloved” actors hostage in her basement?
Considering the characters she’s played before April…this is TOTALLY POSSIBLE!!!!
totally agree. i was really hoping they’d dump her whiney butt after she failed her boards. she’s a horrible character.
EXACTLY!!! How the hell does she have a spot on Greys still?! Her character is annoying and pointless!
This is so sad. Worse than Lexie’s.
Sloan coming out of Addison’s bathroom wasn’t how he entered the show. He visited the hospital earlier that season and was already dubbed “McSteamy” by Meredith before that bathroom scene.
Oh, that’s right, Tom!! I remember now that you say that.
Mark made his entrance in episode 18 of season 2. The bath towel scene was season 3 episode 2 I believe. Did the author of this article make any effort to check their facts?
nooooooooooooooooooooo :( :( :(
there better be a QUALITY Mark/Callie goodbye scene.
I’m actually hoping that they don’t have to have that scene, because the character just decides to enter private practice (no pun intended), that way they can just reference him, like on date night being well Mark has Sophiia, etc.. I just can’t really see Mark leaving his kid behind.
Me too. I would be so sad if there was no closure to the Mark/ Callie relationship.
April is going to regain success through Vhristinas ec husband, who flew to see her and passionately demanded she come back and resume her career as a surgeon. He will guide her, maybe even fall in love with her. Who knows? But April has a second chance now. I think well see her give it all shes got. As far as Mark Sloans death, which I recorded and just watched last night, what a great loss to what was and hopefully remain one of the best shows on tv. But Shonda encoiraged Sloan to leave. Stupid ___.If she knew how the fans would resct, I dont think she would have encouraged him to go. Im heartbroken, cried my eyes out last night and Im sstill shocked and not over it today. And poor Derek and Callie. How will this affect them?Losing their best friend. Bad, bad move. I dont know if I can watch without Mark and Lexie. I never really cared for Teddy.
now, the only character i actually care about is Karev.
And Arizona. I really like Arizona. It’s like JK Rowling all over again.
NOOOOOO! :(( I know he didn’t have much to do this season but he’s still one of my favorite characters. It feels now like the show is slipping, so for me it would be better if they just end it this year. Also, since Eric is gone, here’s hoping that they let Mark die so we can imagine he and Lexie are together in the afterlife (Lame, I know, but part of me feels like this is what Shonda imagined.)
well, my last favourite character is gone, fine.
i rally love easy still i miss her so much. If u kill lexiey u should replace easy because i can’t see the move with out easy and lexiey! Please please bring her back easy! I have no idea how much i feel bad in lexiey die.
BYE. Should have left after season 4. It was apparent they had no use for him.
I love Mark, but I wish they killed him off with Lexie. I really can’t imagine them creating a believable way for him to leave Seattle, especially since he loves being a father.
Yay now Calzona can raise Sofia together without him barging in all the time n telling them that they are raising her wrong and make Arizona feel bad everytime he talks to her he like puts her down seems like
I was wondering how long it would take before the “Calzona” ship jumped on their soap box.
News flash: (should he not die) he’s STILL her father.
And I don’t know what Grey’s you’re watching, but in the show I watch – him and Arizona are friends and they have a 3-way co-parenting system.
Well Arizona didnt even want the baby until Callie almost died. Arizona thinks she’s the sh** and irritates me. I’ve only liked her in her first episode.
If he was going to leave the show then they shouldn’t have killed off Lexie. This could have easily been both of the characters leaving the hospital TOGETHER for other jobs in another hospital. Him staying for a couple more episodes could have been Mark contemplating following Lexie to another hospital and both could have been happy and alive. -_-
amen to that! Especially if he dies. Both of them could have left together. HAPPY. (does not exist in shondaland…)
Maybe the actor hadn’t yet decided when the storyline for Lexie dying was written. Or, mabye the writers wanted 2 separate gripping, must see episodes and in 2 different seasons.
Or, maybe, the death of Lexie is what prompted him to think it would be a good opportunity to leave while honouring the story.
I believe he just jumped out of a sinking ship.
yea!!!
NOOOO!! Okay what?!?!? Like what the hell. If he was going to leave the show anyway, then why did Lexie have to die?!?! Why couldn’t they both decide to leave together, and end up together somewhere happy?!?! UGH NOT FAIR!!
i agree with you .
Maybe they could replace him with Dick Van Dyke, who played Dr. Mark Sloan…on Diagnosis Murder. ;-)
Made me almost spit out my coffee. :)
I had a total crush on Dick Van Dyke when I was like 4, amd he was on Mary Poppins. I’m game ;-)
Of course, he wasn’t in it when I was 4, I’m 24 now, but I watched it when I was :)
64 sounds more like it :)
It would have been nice for his departure not to have been written Tweeted to the world as a spoiler…
Hey TVLine–perhaps it would have been nice for you to have posted a “Spoiler Alert” on that headline?
Seriously? It’s not like they revealed any plot points.
You’re on a TV website that reports news about TV shows and the actors on those TV shows. If you don’t want to read information about those shows and those actors because it might spoil some silly little detail…THEN STOP COMING HERE! It’s super simple.
Why are you replying to my comment as if I am annoyed by the article? I think you meant to reply to the one above me.
It’s not TVLines’s fault. It’s yours. If you don’t want to be spoiled then don’t come to an entertainment news site. End of story.
It was spoiled in the headline he tweeted telling people to come read the article. He is usually pretty good about not spoiling things in his tweets and letting readers decide to click on the link to see the story containing the spoiler only if they choose to. In this case, if you follow Ausiello or tvline on Twitter, you got spoiled whether you wanted to be or not.
Thank you God! Eric (and his pairing Lexie/Chyler Leigh were wasted! Shonda never wanted to write for their characters or their coupling. I love Mark and he deserves to be with his soul mate Lexie after the torture these two characters were put through.
BTW, goodbye Grey’s your show is about killing off people you don’t write for George (for finale ratings which do not work for any show), Lexie and now Mark. No RIP because this was ONCE a good show but not for the last 3 seasons or so. Only character assassinations.
Rumors are Chyler was fired and Rhimes gave the same statement as this so either Eric was fired too or knows his character has nothing and decided to leave.
That’s a juicy rumor, where did you hear that?
Probably TWOP they make up a kinds of stuff there. Lol
LOL! Good to know. No wonder I never caught onto that website.
Chyler Leigh was not fired. She chose to leave Greys
YES! Great news! Now Eric can go to rehab and get clean and then when he’s out he can get acting lessons.
A+ comment lmao!
Maybe I can start to watch GA again. Character wise, he almost singlehandedly ruined the show for me. Still sad for Lexie though… But Sloan is one of the worst tv characters ever and I don’t even know how on earth Dane is called an “actor”. I hope they kill him off so we don’t have to suffer through guest appearances. Flashbacks, maybe, but it’ll still be rare so I’m ok with it as long as I don’t see his fugly smug face every other week.
Now if they give Karev something/someone significant in his life, deal with Calzona properly, send Owen wherever they want and bring the old Cristina back, maybe this show has a shot and can come back from the dead.
I’m sad to see him go…but if Shonda bring’s Katherine Heigl back it would be easier to take!
Bite your tongue!
Amen, pecola. Anything but Heigl.
Wow, GA. Wow. Kinda makes me wonder why they didn’t just kill Mark during the S8 finale ’cause his ghastly appearance kinda had me thinking he was gonna kick the can then and there. I can only assume that maybe he hadn’t made the decision to leave just yet. S9 will definitely be interesting with Mark, Lexie AND Teddy being gone now. Not to mention with these new characters that have been added to the show. Gotta say, me thinks that GA is coming to a quick close. Kinda makes you wonder just how much gas GA’s got left.
I hope tomorrow it’s announced Sandra Oh leaves Greys. I’m ready for her to move on from this show.
Bite your tongue, BettyB! Sandra Oh is far and away the finest actress on the show. Whereas Eric Dane was embarrassing to watch in his final scene with the dying Lexie. I won’t miss his wooden delivery.