PEOPLE

STEFANIA SPAMPINATO, A NEW DOCTOR FOR ‘GREY’S ANATOMY’

Until a few months ago, Sicilian 35-years-old Stefania Spampinato was an actress looking for an opportunity in Los Angeles as well as a ‘Grey’s Anatomy’s fan. “I watched 13 seasons on TV,” she says now that she appears alongside her favorite characters. She plays the role of gynecologist Carina De Luca, sister of Dr. Andrew De Luca, not be a marginal role.

Born and raised in Catania, Spampinato, at age 19, aimed to become a professional dancer: “I first moved to Milan, then to London, where I lived for 5 years. There I started studying acting, but I never thought it could be my job. I did not want to: my dream was to be a dancer.”

Ten years later, a new life change when she moved to Los Angeles: “There I began to study acting more seriously. I was 29 and I started from scratch again.” She says that her first auditions were bad, and she had a hard time to find good ones, until her turning point: “I went to the audition for ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ without knowing how big the role was. They were looking for an actress who spoke Italian, but I thought it just a guest star role, maybe for a patient...” But it was not so, and this is one of those roles that can change a career. “Often I say, ‘is this really happening?’ I’m super happy.” Her first fan was her mother, who she lost not long ago: “Not being able to share all of this with her was very bad. My mom is the main reason I started this career: I was a Sicilian girl and she let me go, she was always my greatest supporter. But there is one thing: I received the news that I had the role on her birthday and began to shoot on her name-day. Even at home, everyone was even more excited because of this.”