Kevin McKidd showed up as Dr. Owen Hunt on Grey’s Anatomy with a straightforward approach to trauma treatment. He may have saved Cristina from an icicle, but he has no interest in getting involved with the drama that permeates Seattle Grace. I had the chance to take a few minutes and talk to the new doctor practicing at the most dramatic hospital in the world. McKidd, who is probably most known to people my age as Tommy from Trainspotting, now takes on the role of an Army Major. He’s not sure what the future holds for Dr. Hunt at Seattle Grace, but as of last week McKidd was made a series regular so we should be seeing lots more of him.
McKidd was on his way home from filming Bunraku and got the call that Grey’s creator Shonda Rhimes wanted to meet with him. As it happens that was the same day as McKidd’s son’s birthday, an event he wouldn’t want to miss. With all the drama on the show you’d think behind the scenes would always be crazy, but sometimes things work out in a normal fashion. ”They were very understanding, thankfully, and waited until the next day. “ No jumping through hoops, and no “seriously.”
Now that he’s on the show there must be a splash made. Hey, I don’t watch every episode but I get the rundown constantly. I know how these Mc____ doctors like to show up wearing steamy towels or something similar. We wouldn’t want our new doc to show up and not have any dramatic troubles. As a trauma surgeon in Baghdad Owen has seen a lot, and lost even more. It’s something that informs the character for McKidd, how a man is affected by such a sense of loss. ”They’re [trauma units] sort of the first line of defense in keeping the soldiers alive while you get back to the hospital…he brings a lot of that back with him. Not just the experience, but the emotional toll it’s taken on him as a man.”
The trauma he brings back from Iraq also makes Dr. Hunt a blunt and straightforward doctor. He famously had the interns cut into live pigs, an event that McKidd says there are no plans to match in the near future. Kevin does say that those ”left of field” and shocking events will continue, but not anywhere near the pig event. Owen also doesn’t have any interest in the dramatic happenings between the staff members, but some things might be beyond his control. ”The thing about Owen is he’s trying to not be interested and not connect with anyone. He wants to do his shift and go home. “ But then he sees Cristina across the room, and as McKidd describes it the moment is almost like love at first sight. ”If he gets close to someone then he’s going to lose them like he did with [his fellow soldiers].”
If you’re a fan of the show you must be wondering if Owen has a Mc___ name yet from Shonda or the writers. As of now there are joke ideas, but nothing has floated to the top as a good choice. ”Shonda calls me Heathcliffe.” McKidd wouldn’t tell what was being passed around behind the scenes, but McBadAss or McBlunt Instrument would be good choices. Right? As for how Dr. Hunt became so blunt after the RPG ambush we haven’t seen anything on that yet. Now that McKidd is a series regular there’s a chance we will get that story in detail through flashback, but there are currently no plans to pursue that storyline in such a detailed way.
For those who were perhaps offended by some of Dr. Hunt’s actions McKidd doesn’t see him as an out of touch and crazy person. ”He has an impulsiveness. He wasn’t quite as impulsive before he went to Iraq, but I think that makes him much more animalistic in a way.” It’ll be interesting to see how the writers approach a character who is so troubled by his traumatic past, but is still a damn good surgeon. It’s one thing to just do crazy things because you have issues, but quite another to be in such a raw emotional state all the time that you want to do your job with precision and avoid any new attachments.
Grey’s Anatomy airs on Thursday nights at 9:00 PM EST on ABC.
