‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Star Calls Season 14 Finale ‘One of the Hardest’ to Film

Alex and Jo will finally get married during Thursday’s Grey’s Anatomy finale, and cast member Camilla Luddington describes it as one of the hardest episodes she’s ever had to film.

The doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital will walk down the aisle in the finale, but in true Grey’s fashion, Alex (Justin Chambers) and Jo (Luddington) will have their fair share of obstacles down the aisle.

“It was really bizarre filming it, just because it’s been such a long time coming for these two characters,” Luddington told Entertainment Weekly. “To see Justin in his suit and to even put on this wedding dress was line, ‘Wow! We made it!’”

Jo and Alex have had quite the journey to the aisle. After his failed marriage to Izzie in the early seasons, Alex and Jo started dating in season 9.

The couple hit a roadblock at the end of season 12 when Jo rejected his marriage proposal, afraid to reveal she had changed her name and was still married to an abusive man she had run away from years before.

The couple took a break after Alex nearly ended up in jail after he beat up DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti), thinking he was sexually assaulting her while she was passed out drunk. And their relationship was again tested when Jo’s estranged ex wound up in the hospital in season 14 and ended up dead.

Jo surprised Alex earlier this year when she popped the question after an emotional case that reminded the doctors of their first love.

“I can’t believe we’ve actually made it,” Luddington said. “Just because they’ve been through so much. We were excited to finally shoot those scenes. Then, it just so happens that… there’s a lot of twists and turns to it. It’s a really fun story line for them. We laughed a lot shooting it.”

A sneak peek from the finale shows Alex and Jo hitting an obstacle that could even cause them to miss their own ceremony, but the finale will also serve as the farewell episode for April Kepner (Sarah Drew) and (Arizona Robbins), who were announced to be leaving the series at the end of this season.

However, Luddington wouldn’t compare the episode to other season finales from the long-running medical series, such as the shooting or the plane crash episodes.

“That’s difficult because I fell like, to me, on a personal level, it felt like one of the hardest ones to film,” Luddington said. “We did lose two actresses that we had to say goodbye to. But there’s no giant explosion. In that way, it’s not one of those finales. I would say there’s lots of beautiful moments. I hope that the audience enjoys it.”

The Grey’s Anatomy season finale airs Thursday, May 17 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.