‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Star Chandra Wilson Talks Exit Rumors

Will Grey’s Anatomy fans say goodbye to another original character?

Following a preview for Thursday’s all-new episode of the hit medical drama, fans turned to Twitter to express their fear after Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) walks into another hospital and tells the ER nurse she is experiencing a heart attack.

According to the logline for the episode, the stress of managing the hospital and coming to terms with her husband Ben’s (Jason George) decision to become a firefighter will push Bailey to her limits, leading to the possible heart attack. But does that mean Bailey will die or leave the hospital?

The Grey’s star talked to Entertainment Weekly about the show’s dramatic hour, emphasizing that while Bailey is stressed, it does not necessarily mean her health scare will end in death.

“Let’s say Bailey has been stressed,” Wilson said, avoiding giving away any spoilers. “Is Bailey leaving? I think this is the right thing to say: Bailey’s been stressed and needs to take care of herself.”

Talking to TVLine, the actress said the episode will dive into the dangers a person can face when describing their symptoms to doctors, only to be met with emotional responses by physicians.

“He thinks he knows her because he knows of her and knows what she’s been experiencing in her life,” she said. “Couple that with the fact that she’s obsessive-compulsive, and then people start to check off mental boxes in their head, as well as on the chart in front of them, which takes them completely away from the physical symptoms that she walked in with!”

The storyline, EW reports, was loosely based on episode writer Elisabeth R. Finch’s real-life experience in being diagnosed with cancer.

“It’s not directly related to Finch’s story, but only in relation to the experience with illness, the experience of going in to an emergency room, and with diagnoses, and the fears that come as a result of anyone having to go into a healthcare situation,” Wilson said. “That’s where the similarities end.”

“What we really wanted to talk about in this episode, especially for women, is heart disease, how it manifests, how much of a killer of women it is, and how to be taken seriously when you walk into an emergency room situation so that you can be properly diagnosed and properly treated,” Wilson continued.

“That’s the thing that was always at the forefront of each of the scenes that we went into, and the performance, as well as the conversations that Bailey was having with each of the characters,” she added.

Wilson also teased that viewers will get more information about Bailey’s childhood during the hour.

“There are things that get revealed in this episode about Bailey’s upbringing that make you understand the person that you’ve been seeing since the pilot,” Wilson said. “Where she’s coming from, why she behaves the way she behaves, the kind of relationships that she has with her family, the kind of relationships she has with patients, the driven, professional woman that she is — you get a glimpse of where the seed of her comes from.”

Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.