Joshua Jackson could have joined the staff of Seattle Grace Hospital, but ultimately, he didn’t become part of Grey’s Anatomy – and here’s who he was going to play and what happened to those plans. Grey’s Anatomy has become one of the most successful medical dramas in recent years, and even if the quality of the show has been decreasing in the past years, it continues to be quite popular with the audience, who are still keeping a close eye on the story of Meredith Grey and her friends and colleagues.
Like any other medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy centers on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings who do their best to balance their professional and personal lives, though these often overlap and make way for a lot of drama inside and outside the hospital. The series is led by Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), who viewers have seen go from an intern to Head of General Surgery and now Director of the Residency Program at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. Grey’s Anatomy has also seen a lot of familiar faces taking on either cameo or recurring roles, and it could have had Joshua Jackson among the hospital’s staff, but things didn’t go as planned.
Joshua Jackson is best remembered for playing Charlie Conway in The Mighty Ducks and later Pacey Witter in Dawson’s Creek, and in 2007, he was ready to play a different role as he was cast in Grey’s Anatomy. Jackson’s role was that of a love interest of Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) and he would have joined the show in season 4, and while it’s unclear if that role was that of Owen Hunt (now played by Kevin McKidd), it wouldn’t be surprising if it was given that Owen arrived at Seattle Grace in season 4. Unfortunately, Jackson’s time in Grey’s Anatomy came to an end before he could even appear on the show, as on the day he was set to start filming, the Writers Guild of America strike began.
The strike lasted 100 days, and by the time Grey’s Anatomy was ready to resume filming, Jackson was no longer available to join the show. Jackson went on to star in J.J. Abrams’ sci-fi TV series Fringe, which aired from 2008 to 2013, and he moved on to other TV projects like The Affair (where he played Cole Lockhart), Little Fires Everywhere, and Dr. Death. On the big screen, Jackson went on to appear in Shutter, Gashole, One Week, Lay the Favorite, Inescapable, and Sky. Of course, Grey’s Anatomy wasn’t left without a new love interest for Cristina, as Owen Hunt joined the show in season 4 and he continues to be part of it, though obviously no longer as Cristina’s partner as she left in season 10.
As it’s unclear if Joshua Jackson’s role in Grey’s Anatomy would have been that of Owen Hunt or a different one, had he joined the cast the arcs of Cristina and others would have been very different, and if he had played Owen, it’s hard to say if he would be the same man fans now know so well in terms of personality and development. Ultimately, everything worked out for both Joshua Jackson and Grey’s Anatomy.