'Grey's Anatomy' Star Jeanine Mason Reveals What's to Come When the Show Returns in 2018

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Jeanine Mason has only been on Grey’s Anatomy for less than half a season, as surgical intern Sam Bello, but she’s already a veteran when it comes to her knowledge of iconic Grey’s moments. “Personally, I love the sex scenes in the on-call room because, as a fan of the show, that’s classic Grey’s to me,” she tells us. “I think my first episode, where Andrew and Sam had the sex scene in the on-call room, Kevin McKidd was directing, and he’s like, ‘Man, I’ve done a lot of scenes in here.’ We just lost it laughing, like, ‘Of course you have! I’ve watched all of them!’”

Mason was in high school when the show premiered and vividly remembers following the lives of Meredith, Derek, Cristina, and Owen. “But my sister was probably even more so of a fan,” she admits. “When I was cast on the show, my plan was to keep it from her and have her watch me come on the screen in my [scrubs] and someone tape her reaction, but I let the cat out of the bag.”

With a sexy storyline right out of the gate (with Giacomo Gianniotti’s Dr. Andrew DeLuca), it’s easy to see why Mason would have trouble keeping that crucial piece of information to herself. “He’s the loveliest human, and I’ve had so much fun doing those scenes that feature this sexy push and pull between Sam and DeLuca,” she says. “They try to resist each other, but it’s a super fun dance.”

And when the show returns, on Thursday, January 18, Mason says the ex-lovers will continue to battle their feelings for each other. “She’s going to make a conscious effort to push DeLuca away,” she reveals. “He is very much a part of what is driving these anxieties for her [at the hospital]. She wants to focus on the work, but she’s really distracted.” Obviously. “Yeah, I know,” she laughs. “Their dynamic is going to get so fun. They’re trying to stay focused, but they’re just right there in each other’s space.”

But Dr. Bello is going to have to learn how to control that distraction, especially if she wants a future alongside some of the nation’s best doctors. In the new year, she gets assigned to neuroscience under the tutelage of Dr. Amelia Shephard. “That’s super exciting, because it means I get to work with Caterina Scorsone,” Mason says. “Sam is finally going to get more responsibility.”

PHOTO: ABC

Mason is also thrilled to explore more of Sam’s backstory, especially since those details are usually clouded in secrecy. “I had an indication that Sam was somebody who was brilliant and at the top of her class and has a propensity for being a little neurotic and anxious,” she says. “And I thought, ‘OK, I can totally run with that. Someone who really is trying to deliver.’ That’s not a hard place to put myself in considering I was new to the set and wanted to be a positive contribution to the show.”

Speaking of positive contributions, it’s not lost on Mason that she plays a woman of color. “Sam is Latina, and I’m Cuban, and I was hoping that was something we could explore with the character because it’s been a minute since there’s been a Latina character on the show,” she explains. “The fact that it is a part of Sam’s story is really exciting to me.” She continues, “I remember watching when Sara Ramirez joined the show. Seeing Callie walk down those hallways with purpose and an unapologetic sense of self was so empowering. I was affected by it as a young Cuban girl with aspirations to be an actor. I thought, ‘What power this woman has, and what a position she has on this show in the top of her field, the best at what she does.’ You want to think, Of course this should be the case, but it was meaningful that they made a point of showing how brilliant Callie was. So, I’m excited that Sam is going to have that same sort of intelligence, and I hope she can step more into her confidence as she gets older and have some of that same bad assery that Callie had.”

Mason knows what it’s like to feel underrepresented in her chosen profession, pointing to some cultural micro-aggressions she’s faced in her career. “I remember I had someone tell me I was lucky my last name was Mason because it didn’t give me away as a Cuban,” she says. “Even then, as an 18-year-old, I went ‘Oh my God, is this something that I’m being told I need to actively try to hide?’ And now, to be where we are in 2017, especially as a woman this year, is just way more informed. But I feel so lucky to be working in this industry right now, in this moment, and I feel an immense responsibility to be a champion for myself and my culture.”

And if there is any show that celebrates diverse characters and stories, it’s Grey’s Anatomy. “The show pretty much picks up right where we left off and it dives into some heavy stuff. That’s where this show shines brightest; it addresses the big conversation starters.”

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