This “Grey’s Anatomy” star had an important thing to say about being confused with her co-star
We can’t believe that finally after what feels like forever Grey’s Anatomy is back this Thursday on ABC. And, after watching the promo for season 13, things look like they’re going to be explosive right from the start.
However, what should be a joyous time for the show’s cast (we mean 13 seasons is A LOT) has been somewhat marred for one particular cast member due to some unnecessary mixups.
Kelly McCreary, who plays Dr Maggie Pierce on the ABC medical drama, was in attendance at EW‘s Pre-Emmy’s party on Friday night (September 16th). After the event, McCreary went online to see if she could spot any pictures of herself from the party. However, the actress couldn’t find any.
Instead, McCreary found photos of herself tagged as her co-star Jerrika Hinton, who plays Dr Stephanie Edwards.
The similarities between the two actors? They’re both people of color.
Taking to Instagram, McCreary decided to address the issue.
"I had the best time at the EW party Friday night, getting hyped for the Emmy’s, our upcoming Grey’s season premiere this Thursday, and celebrating artists who have created visionary, groundbreaking television for us to enjoy this fall," she wrote on the photo sharing network. "Saturday morning, I searched the internet for my carpet photos so I could post them here and give credit to my glam team who straight KILLT it, but I could find none," she continued. "Finally, with a sinking feeling, I searched for the name of my castmate, Jerrika Hinton, who did not even attend the event. Lo and behold, there I was!!"
McCreary went on to explain why she knew that she’d find her photos tagged as her co-star Hinton.
"[T]his isn’t the first time this has happened," she explained. "Now Jerrika is a beautiful lady, inside and out, with talent for days. I would be flattered to be mistaken for her, if it didn’t seem like the all-too-frequent occurrence of this [mistake' indicated the careless conflation of two black actresses with curly hair on the same tv show. "I wonder, does this happen when there are two blonde women in the same cast? When there are two dark-haired white dudes with blue eyes? Maybe it does. But I’ll tell you what— to constantly wonder whether I’m facing a micro-aggression I should call someone out on, or a harmless mistake I should let slide, is a real energy drain."
McCreary, who looked stunning btw, went on to say that for marginalized people, life could be “noisy and draining” before going on to make a PSA:
"Check your unconscious biases today. We all have them. Managing them takes discipline, vigilance, and self-awareness, and you can practice it anytime. Why not do it today? And in the words of my castmate, I simply ask the folks who are in the business of identifying distinct and unique human beings to Do Better. That is all. Thanks."
As McCreary states, her comments echo those sentiments made by her character Maggie Pierce in the last season of Grey’s Anatomy about checking privilege.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvrKrzE0nZY?feature=oembed
As McCreary says, people need to do better. We totally respect her for speaking up on this issue and couldn’t agree more.
Grey’s Anatomy returns Thursday, September 22nd at 8/7c
