THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
May 05, 2016 6:00pm PT by Lesley Goldberg
'Grey's Anatomy' Star: Callie and Arizona's Tribulations Will Influence April and Jackson
Jesse Williams talks with THR about hope for April and Jackson in the wake of their friends' bitter custody battle.
[Warning: This story contains spoilers from the May 5 episode of ABC's Grey's Anatomy.]
Is this the end of Callie and Arizona as Grey's Anatomy diehards have known (and loved) them?
Thursday's episode featured the former couple in a bitter custody battle for their daughter Sofia that ended with Arizona gaining full custody. It also divided the duo in a way that broke the hearts of "Calzona" hopefuls — and served as a lesson for recently divorced parents-to-be April (Sarah Drew) and Jackson (Jesse Williams) and what not to do.
Here, Williams talks with THR about how Callie and Arizona's plight will impact April and Jackson, hope for the couple and more.
Jackson and April have been in a good place of late. Given what Callie and Arizona have been going through, how will that impact April and Jackson?
Callie and Arizona's storyline serves as a warning shot for April and Jackson — if they choose to pay attention to it and look at it with some kind of foresight. [With Callie and Arizona], you see a couple that is several years ahead of April and Jackson and what it is to manage a marriage and manage a potential divorce and a divorce with kids, which is what Jackson and April are inheriting. We're starting our first moment as parents as a divorced couple, so you can see how quickly and easily it can turn ugly. I'm not sure that we're taking lessons from that though. I think a lot of that stuff is in hindsight. Callie and Arizona are giving us a blueprint of what not to do and a glimmer of ideas of what you can do. Callie and Arizona do sometimes have a healthy relationship. But I think Jackson and April have such tunnel vision on their specific experiences and their tension with their particular relationship that it's easy to dive in blindly and carry all your frustration and baggage.
May 05, 2016 6:00pm PT by Lesley Goldberg
'Grey's Anatomy' Star: Callie and Arizona's Tribulations Will Influence April and Jackson
Jesse Williams talks with THR about hope for April and Jackson in the wake of their friends' bitter custody battle.
[Warning: This story contains spoilers from the May 5 episode of ABC's Grey's Anatomy.]
Is this the end of Callie and Arizona as Grey's Anatomy diehards have known (and loved) them?
Thursday's episode featured the former couple in a bitter custody battle for their daughter Sofia that ended with Arizona gaining full custody. It also divided the duo in a way that broke the hearts of "Calzona" hopefuls — and served as a lesson for recently divorced parents-to-be April (Sarah Drew) and Jackson (Jesse Williams) and what not to do.
Here, Williams talks with THR about how Callie and Arizona's plight will impact April and Jackson, hope for the couple and more.
Jackson and April have been in a good place of late. Given what Callie and Arizona have been going through, how will that impact April and Jackson?
Callie and Arizona's storyline serves as a warning shot for April and Jackson — if they choose to pay attention to it and look at it with some kind of foresight. [With Callie and Arizona], you see a couple that is several years ahead of April and Jackson and what it is to manage a marriage and manage a potential divorce and a divorce with kids, which is what Jackson and April are inheriting. We're starting our first moment as parents as a divorced couple, so you can see how quickly and easily it can turn ugly. I'm not sure that we're taking lessons from that though. I think a lot of that stuff is in hindsight. Callie and Arizona are giving us a blueprint of what not to do and a glimmer of ideas of what you can do. Callie and Arizona do sometimes have a healthy relationship. But I think Jackson and April have such tunnel vision on their specific experiences and their tension with their particular relationship that it's easy to dive in blindly and carry all your frustration and baggage.
Is there hope here that there's a love and relationship worth saving with April and Jackson?
For sure. If there wasn't a pregnancy, it would have been much easier for them to completely separate and avoid each other; the pregnancy gives them a reason to keep interacting and keep crossing paths. It's definitely been a magnet. I think there's hope [romantically]. I don't think it's promised at all. But there's always hope. If they're both alive, there's always hope.
What has Jackson learned from this whole experience with April?
What Jackson has really struggled with is going in with preconceived notions vs. what you're real-life experience is. He has been fighting uphill; he's had every reason to separate from April and has every reason to commit and recommit. What he's really learned is that you just cannot predict the future and you certainly can't prescribe love and affection and what that will drive you to do.
They went from being kids who rushed to marriage and now have turned to adults who maybe should rethink that…
As one of the few relationships that started as friends and a platonic base, you'd think that establishes a strong foundation but it does at the same time feel like two kids who dove headlong because we dove headlong into a marriage without ever really dating. We dove headlong into a really traumatic pregnancy and that false start as parents. We're pretty embedded and I'm looking forward to a break to recalibrate.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/greys-anatomy-callie-arizona-april-890743
For sure. If there wasn't a pregnancy, it would have been much easier for them to completely separate and avoid each other; the pregnancy gives them a reason to keep interacting and keep crossing paths. It's definitely been a magnet. I think there's hope [romantically]. I don't think it's promised at all. But there's always hope. If they're both alive, there's always hope.
What has Jackson learned from this whole experience with April?
What Jackson has really struggled with is going in with preconceived notions vs. what you're real-life experience is. He has been fighting uphill; he's had every reason to separate from April and has every reason to commit and recommit. What he's really learned is that you just cannot predict the future and you certainly can't prescribe love and affection and what that will drive you to do.
They went from being kids who rushed to marriage and now have turned to adults who maybe should rethink that…
As one of the few relationships that started as friends and a platonic base, you'd think that establishes a strong foundation but it does at the same time feel like two kids who dove headlong because we dove headlong into a marriage without ever really dating. We dove headlong into a really traumatic pregnancy and that false start as parents. We're pretty embedded and I'm looking forward to a break to recalibrate.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/greys-anatomy-callie-arizona-april-890743
