The actress talks to ET about Teddy's big pregnancy secret and the repercussions that lie ahead for Owen and Amelia.
The time is ticking on Teddy's pregnancy secret.
On Thursday's episode of Grey's Anatomy, Meredith reaches out to Teddy after she finds out (from Maggie) that Teddy is pregnant with Owen's baby -- only Owen, or Amelia for that matter, don't know it yet. With Teddy hiding a big secret from her ex-lover, Meredith takes it upon herself to figure out the road with the least amount of thorns for Teddy's growing issue. Pun intended.
For Kim Raver, who returned to full-time status on Grey's at the start of season 15 after five years away, it was like no time had passed. "It feels to me like going away to college and coming back. You grow and evolve, and yet you come back to your family and it’s this incredibly loving family," she reminisced in a recent interview with ET. "With [showrunner] Krista Vernoff, she’s distilled all of the essence of Grey’s Anatomy and it’s so appropriate that in season 15, we have everything that makes Grey’s that thing that we all love about it."
Well, things are going to get a lot dicier for Teddy as her growing baby bump becomes unavoidable to the doctors and nurses at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. When it does come out, what are the consequences for her relationship with Owen, and to his rekindled romance with Amelia? Does Teddy even need Owen to be a father figure to their baby? ET spoke with Raver to get her take on what's to come for Teddy as she navigates the treacherous waters of her secret.
ET: What was it like returning to Grey's Anatomy on a full-time basis?
Kim Raver: It’s incredible. It feels to me like going away to college and coming back. You grow and evolve, and yet you come back to your family and it’s this incredibly loving family, and it really is. The show evolves but I feel like with Krista Vernoff, who’s so unbelievably talented, she’s distilled all of the essence of Grey’s Anatomy and it’s so appropriate that in season 15, we have everything that makes Grey’s that thing that we all love about it. It’s the feels, bring all the love back and it’s complicated and the love triangles. I am just so happy. I am thrilled to be back.
Why are Grey's' love stories so captivating to watch?
Because I think that they’re complicated. Most love stories usually -- I don’t know if it’s a saccharine version -- but I feel like [creator] Shonda Rhimes always set up a very raw, real, messy, ugly but yet hot and sexy [romance], and I think that raw realness is what people relate to. But there’s also humor to it, so I think that makes it different and it makes it different that all the characters are super flawed. Yet they also have their heroic moment. You’re never just one thing and I think that’s relatable to people. Usually, love in other places when you’re watching is this unattainable thing, whereas because Shonda and Krista have always made it very real, it makes it relatable. And there is hope in it. When you see McSteamy and McDreamy, there’s like, [Gasps.] I want that! It’s definitely a thing that you want at the same time.
Teddy's pregnant with Owen's baby. That's already causing complications for Owen and Amelia's relationship, though they don't quite know her secret yet. How would you characterize the new love triangle?
I was pitching it to the writers and to Krista Vernoff that maybe we could do the love triangle a little differently so that it’s not woman pitted against woman. I feel like that it’s headed in that direction. I feel like both Amelia and Teddy are really watching out for the other person and how can we navigate through this and where is Owen at? We’ll see how that goes, but that’s definitely the direction that I’d like to head into.
How do you think Owen and Amelia would take the news?
That’s why Teddy doesn’t want to tell anyone because I don’t think she wants to break up anything if something is there. I don’t think she knows what is there but I think she’s treading super lightly and doesn’t want anyone to know. Part of her is like, “I gotta get in and I gotta get out.” I don’t think she realizes when she came here, what their relationship was going to be. I think it’s like stepping into a minefield and seeing where is the safest path to tread and how do we do that and keep everyone protected. I think that’s an interesting thing, that everyone is being mindful of one another. I have no idea how they are going to take the news. I know that Owen has always wanted kids. It’s blowing Teddy’s mind that all of a sudden she’s seeing this family and that’s not how he left Teddy. Again, it’s messy and complicated and juicy and difficult, but also rewarding and hopeful and definitely the feels.
What are you looking forward to exploring in Teddy's pregnancy journey? Will we see her go through the whole pregnancy from beginning to end on Grey's?
Yeah. You’re going to see Teddy deal with a lot of things, dealing with what’s it going to be like thinking about motherhood. Is she going to be a single mother? Is she going to stay in Seattle and raise the kid? It’s definitely seeing how to manage becoming a mom and use her resources of using the Grey’s Anatomy family to figure it out.
Do you think she's reached a point where she doesn't need Owen to raise the baby or be happy? Is she OK being by herself and doing this on her own?
That’s what’s really interesting. That’s a really modern view. Look, I think Teddy is capable of doing that. The question is, do you want to be alone? No. Does Teddy want to be alone? No. Has she deeply loved Owen for a really long time because she’s had great loss in her life? Yes. Will she be fine in the end? Yes. But what makes it so interesting is that we are searching for a relationship, but a modern concept is: We’re also fine on our own and I think we’re actually better partners when we do become stronger alone. Maybe that is the journey. Maybe Teddy is gonna be alone, I don’t know. Maybe it is about her finding what her path is on to become a stronger person, a stronger mom.
How would you describe the season for Teddy?
Tumultuous. Awestruck [with] becoming a mother. Searching. And I think definitely filled with love for her baby and Owen and for many reasons.
Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
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