Many Grey’s Anatomy fans still fondly remember the character Chyler Leigh played. In the Season 8 finale of Grey’s Anatomy, titled “Flight,” Lexie, Mark (Eric Dane
), Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) and Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) were all involved in a plane crash.
Lexie Gray was trapped under a piece of the plane and spent the last moments of her with Mark before dying. Grey’s Anatomy fans remember the scene with a lot of pain because the character was so loved and managed to win the hearts of many.
But what was it really that motivated the actress to leave the drama? Is there a hidden reason behind what happened? Leigh revealed that it was her decision to leave Grey’s Anatomy after season eight. The actress would have revealed in a statement after her resignation the reasons that led her to such an important decision.
“I made the decision that season eight would be the last on Grey’s Anatomy as soon as the year started. I met with Shonda Rhimes and we worked together to put a proper closure on Lexie’s story. My experience on Grey’s Anatomy is something that I will treasure for the rest of my life, but I needed closure ”.
Some time later, Shonda Rhimes (creator of Grey’s Anatomy) spoke about Lexie’s death, a few months after Leigh left Lexie behind in Grey’s Anatomy, and explained why she had to kill the character, instead of leaving her a back door open for a possible return.
The Grey’s Anatomy creator revealed that Lexie’s death still haunted her as she adored Lexie Gray and explained why she had to die in such a tragic way.
“His departure from her had to have the maximum impact on everyone. Initially Lexie was not on the plane when we planned that part, but when we found out that Chyler Leigh was leaving, we had a chat with her and we arranged the scene so that it was.”
Rhimes later revealed that Lexie was originally supposed to die at Seattle Grace “doing something as simple as slipping and hitting her head.” However, Rhimes wanted Lexie and Mark to be together at this difficult time for all Grey’s Anatomy fans.
