Going Green on Grey's Anatomy

Source: treehugger

Going Green on Grey's Anatomy: Actress Jessica Capshaw Tells All
by Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff, Los Angeles, California on 08. 6.09

Get ready for a must-see season six of Grey’s Anatomy, when Jessica Capshaw returns to Seattle Grace as pediatrician Arizona Roberts—the lesbian love interest of Dr. Callie Torres, played by Sara Ramirez. Currently shooting 14-hour days—and mum on storylines—Jessica took a break to talk about her growing environmentalism, the importance of green parenting, and the conventional makeup that she just can’t give up.

Although her character is groundbreaking—Sara and Jessica play the only openly gay characters currently on network television—the actress, who is the daughter of Kate Capshaw and stepdaughter to Steven Spielberg, keeps it in perspective. “I’m playing a female doctor who happens to be gay,” she said. “I’ve never at the beginning of a scene thought to myself, ‘I’m playing a gay person.’”

Much of that groundedness Jessica attributes to her husband, Christopher Gavigan, who is the Executive Director and CEO of Healthy Child, Healthy World, a national non-profit organization devoted to children’s environmental health. In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit my bias: I worked with Christopher on Healthy Child’s marketing for nearly two years, and it was his influence that inspired me to launch Ecostiletto. Obviously, he’s a very influential guy. “I owe [my eco-consciousness] completely to my husband,” Jessica said. “Christopher really understands the idea of living as naturally as you possibly can and being conscious of the effect that you have on your environment.”

But although the family eats organic, Jessica draws the line at joining Christopher as a vegetarian. (She does reduce her consumption and keep red meat out of their two-year-old son’s diet.) “I’m a Midwesterner!” she said. “Not being able to have a cheeseburger once in a while would be torture!”

Jessica’s pregnancy inspired many of her eco-friendly changes, including reducing her consumption, eating organic and buying locally, BYOBing a stainless steel water bottle, and being conscious of the effects of transportation on the environment: She drives a Prius; her son’s current favorite mode of transportation is a Santa Monica Bus. And the family won’t “use anything where we can’t identify the ingredients,” she said. “Ingredients should not read like a chemistry experiment!”

Similarly, Jessica revealed that Ellen Pompeo’s pregnancy has inspired a whole new range of eco-friendly makeup on the “Grey’s” set. But she also confessed that, when it comes to beauty, there are some things that she just can’t give up. “To be honest, makeup is a big part of what I do for a living. I use only essential oils for perfumes. I gave up the artificial shampoos that were supposed to make my hair look like Gisele’s and I have to tell you, my hair looks the same using the organic products as it did using the ones crammed with chemicals,” she said. “But I’ll never give up my Dior mascara that makes my lashes five miles long.”

The bottom line for Jessica? “Do the best that you can. You can’t completely change everything at once. We kind of find the little ways we can change things. And any step towards the better is, obviously, better.”

Rachel Sarnoff is founder of Ecostiletto and an occasion contributor to TreeHugger.
Read Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff’s full interviews with Jessica Capshaw and other EcoCelebrities at Ecostiletto

Grant Show (Rick Hyde, Ryan's Hope; Marco, Lucky Chances; Jake Hanson, Beverly Hills 90210; Jake Hanson, Models Inc.; Jake Hanson, Melrose Place; Scott Axelrod, Six Feet Under; Daniel Kerr, Beautiful People; Lucas Boyd, Point Pleasant; Jack Dawson, Dirt; Tom Decker, Swingtown; Archer Montgomery, Grey's Anatomy; Archer Montgomery, Private Practice)

Source: Seattle TV Guide

Monday, August 3, 2009
Last updated 3:42 p.m. PT

Grant Show on Melrose Place: "We're Talking"

By MICKEY O'CONNOR
TV GUIDE

Now that he's appearing on a CBS sitcom in the fall, Grant Show says he's open to appearing on sister network CW's Melrose Place.

"We've been talking, but nothing solid," Show says. "I'm not opposed to it." In the meantime, Show will co-star with Jenna Elfman on CBS' unplanned-pregnancy sitcom Accidentally on Purpose.

How or when might Show's Jake return to the Melrose fold? Show says that's still TBD. "They haven't come up with the writing for me yet," he says. "I'm not sure they're even going to need me this year — maybe next year."

That gives us time to brainstorm, people! How would you like to see Jake reappear on Melrose Place?

Update on: Chandra Wilson

Chandra Wilson (unknown role, 100 Centre Street; Police Officer, Sex and the City; Evelyn Greenwood, The Sopranos; Dr. Miranda Bailey, Private Practice; Dr. Miranda Bailey, Grey's Anatomy)

Source: New York Daily News

(left) Chandra Wilson as Mama Mortin in "Chicago"

'Grey's Anatomy' star Chandra Wilson gets a Broadway lesson in 'Chicago'

by Joe Dziemianowicz DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Saturday, June 6th 2009, 4:00 AM

It’s never as good as the first time — or so conventional wisdom and a hit song by Sade will have you believe.

But "Grey’s Anatomy" star Chandra Wilson has no complaints about her third trip to Broadway, where she begins performances as the bossy, saucy prison matron Mama Morton in "Chicago" tomorrow night.

On break from the prime-time hospital hit, her ­return to the Great White Way has been an eye-opening experience, one that’s come complete with a car and ­driver, fancy digs for the length of run (it ends July 5), plus a brief but sweet visit from producer Barry Weissler, who stopped by during a rehearsal last week to check in on the latest guest star in his long-running hit.

"Everything’s good? Do you need anything? We’re all really excited," Weissler said. "We’re so glad you’re here. You’re like a gift."

Wilson, a down-to-earth girl from Houston, marvels at all the perks and attention that have come since being away from the stage and toiling on TV.

"This is very strange for me," she says. "This is a different Broadway experience for me. I’ve never headlined anything before or been pulled out in a featured role. I was always part of the ensemble."

Her previous Broadway jobs were in musicals — the socially conscious "Caroline, Or Change" and the irreverent puppet production "Avenue Q."

"I’ve never had a car take me to the show. Nothing like that," says Wilson.

But three Emmy nominations later and becoming a household name has changed everything. Including anticipation. "It’s a different expectation," she says, "now that I’ve got this name attached to myself."

If greater expectations have her feeling butterflies, she wasn’t showing them as she rehearsed "When You’re Good to Mama," which, along with "Class," are the character’s big numbers in the deliciously dark celebration of killer chorus girls Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly.

"What I’m learning about Mama is that she’s a manipulative thing," she says. "Bottom line, she’s interested in making sure that she gets paid for everything. She really enjoys this position she’s in. She’s all flash and show, but the point of everything she does is to get you to do something you don’t want to do."

In some ways, then, Mama bears more than a ­passing resemblance to the demanding and blunt Dr. Miranda Bailey, Wilson’s TV alter ego. They know what they want and how to get it.

"Grey’s Anatomy" goes into production of its sixth season in mid-July, which gives Wilson about a week and a half of downtime between the Broadway gig and the return to the daily grind of TV. The 39-year-old actress says she welcomes the hectic schedule. Growing up in Houston, she got into acting, she says, at the nudging of her mother.

"My mom is the one who initially got me started on this path, so I wouldn’t be sitting home idle, doing nothing," says Wilson, whose career has chugged along steadily since studying drama at NYU. "She wanted me to have something to do."

These days that’s a nonissue. Married with three children ages 31/2 to 15, there’s always something to do. She regards her "Grey’s Anatomy" castmates, including Patrick Dempsey, Ellen Pompeo and Katherine Heigl, as her second family. And, yes, she says, "I think it’s a happy one."

"Put it this way," she adds after a pause, "we’re there for 10 months a year, in each other’s faces every day. It’s like anybody’s house would be. You’ve got your days when everything is cool and you’ve got your days when you don’t want your cousins over at your house. That’s our family, and I think together we make great, great television."

But for now, TV will wait. It’s all about "Chicago" and Broadway. And tonight she’ll be part of the Tonys, where she’s presenting an award. Like the car and driver, it’s a whole new experience.
"I’ve never been to the Tonys," she says. "I thought when ‘Caroline, Or Change’ was nominated the whole cast would go, but that’s not the way it is."