Spotlight on actor Jason George
The Grey’s Anatomy star is back on our screens – as a firefighter
NEW SERIES He’s best known for playing Dr Ben Warren in Grey’s Anatomy. Now in Station 19 – a Grey’s spin-off also from creator Shonda Rhimes – he reprises his role but swops his doctor’s scrubs for a firefighter’s uniform.
The show follows the crew of a Seattle fire station who battle not only blazes but medical emergencies too. After six seasons in Grey’s, playing a doctor who becomes a trainee firefighter was a welcome change, he says. “I’m an action junkie and my character’s an action junkie, so I’m really excited about this.”
Jason (46) reckons viewers will love the fast-paced nature of the show. “On Grey’s, the patient changes but everything else is the exact same. Here every situation is different. Are we at a fire? Are we at a car accident? We flip it up.”
He stars alongside Rosewood’s Jaina Lee Ortiz, Friday Night Lights’ Grey Damon and Chandra Wilson, who reprises her Grey’s role as his wife, Miranda Bailey. HEALTHY BODY, HEALTHY MIND While being in good shape is important for his job, his exercise routine is about more than keeping fit, he says. “It’s not like the average lawyer or doctor is a physical Adonis,” he says. “But it’s amazing how many intelligent, obsessed people are driven in their physical regimen as well.”
He exercises for at least an hour every day, usually cardio-based muscle-building, and does weekly boxing sessions and regular trail runs. “Fitness helps me think better, feel better and move better.”
His home gym isn’t only kitted out with exercise equipment – there’s also a 79-inch TV. “It’s amazing how long you can stay active when you’re watching Captain America kicking the cr*p out of somebody.” FAMILY MATTERS He’s married to acclaimed Indian-American poet and writer Vandana Khanna, whom he met at university and married in 1999. They have nineyear-old twins, Nikhil and Jasmine, and an older son, Arun.
Family is important to him. His Twitter bio reads, “Dad who moonlights as an actor.”
Growing up, he and his three brothers were raised by their single mom who worked as a teacher.
He credits his family with keeping him humble. “My mother raised me right and I have very large brothers who aren’t afraid to put me in my place if I begin to get too big for my britches. And my kids completely understand that I may be on a huge show or in a big movie, but most of the time they’re not terribly impressed.”
By George!