Note: This story contains spoilers from “Grey’s Anatomy” Season 23, Episode 5
“Grey’s Anatomy” isn’t giving Dr. Benson Kwan a break in Season 23, not even as the actor who plays him dominates the leaderboard on “Dancing With the Stars.”
Episode 5, titled “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You),” saw the surgical resident known as Blue (Harry Shum Jr.) caught off guard by the arrival of his estranged father Stephen (Russell Wong), who visited the hospital to share news he was dying — decades after abandoning Blue and his family.
The twist comes on the heels of a difficult start to the season for Blue, after he was fired at the end of last season for going rogue on a patient. The ABC medical drama followed as Blue continued to be in the vicinity of the hospital, and eventually made his way back into the staff when new chief of surgery Dr. Seth Norton (James Wolk) hired him to work on the controversial new VIP floor. But his resident position and standing as a surgeon in training remains in question.
“Blue [had] a huge pivotal moment that could have derailed his career, and now to have his dad come into the mix and really shake things up even more … I thought it was the perfect time [to introduce him],” Shum Jr. told TheWrap exclusively of the big twist.
Since his debut in Season 19, Blue has been well established as a character who keeps his feelings concealed, so it was especially notable to see the pain he displayed in several tense scenes as he confronted his father for leaving and never looking back. After sharing a terminal cancer diagnosis, Stephen told Blue he could potentially be treated with a bone marrow transplant. Blue volunteered to get tested before his father even asked, and even seemed open to rekindling their relationship.
But then Jules (Adelaide Kane) and Lucas (Niko Terho) overheard Stephen on the phone, where he revealed his plan to return to Blue’s life was about convincing him to donate all along. Blue confronted him after learning that and rescinded his offer before walking away. With the looming results of the bone marrow test, it’s safe to say the storyline is far from over.
“At this point in time, it’s like he’s dead to him,” Shum Jr. said of Blue at the end of Episode 5. “We’ll see what more could be revealed that might make him feel differently.”
Below, the actor breaks down the emotionally-charged episode, and why having his “Grey’s” storyline heat up while competing on “DWTS” is “the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
TheWrap: Blue has been going through it this season, and this week’s episode reunited him with his estranged father. What was your reaction when you learned this was coming?
Shum Jr.: Our showrunner, Meg Marinis, has been wanting to figure out how to bring Blue’s dad into the story, and I thought it was the perfect time. Especially with Blue having a huge pivotal moment that could have derailed his whole career that he’s been fighting for, and now to have his dad come into the mix and really shake things up even more. And with Blue, he doesn’t really show his emotions. He doesn’t wear his heart on his sleeve. Now we’re seeing [his father] coming back to his life and having all that anger and resentment boil up, while still trying to be a surgeon and maintain his job.
We’ve seen or heard of fathers who leave to go get milk and don’t come back, but we never get to see that with an Asian family on TV. It was important to highlight the dynamics there that we rarely see on screen.
Blue is in deep pain in those scenes with his estranged father, which were played beautifully by you and Russell Wong and directed by your former castmate Jake Borelli. How was it bringing those scenes to life with that team by your side?
Jake is just a brilliant director. He’s a brilliant actor, as we’ve seen over seven years of being on the show. It was so fun working with him and with legend Russell Wong, who’s done so much for Asian actors on television and film. But on top of that, he just played it so genuinely.
We had really nice, long conversations, and usually we don’t have that when we’re shooting on this show because it’s so fast-paced. Everything’s moving so fast, and we only have limited time. But getting to know him, getting to talk to him, and getting to talk to our writer [Zoanne Clack], and having Jake making sure that it felt lived in. A lot of times you meet your TV father, and you just have to have this chemistry immediately without knowing each other. With any father and son set, you want to make sure that it has a lot of weight, but on top of that you want to get the nuances of how an Asian family operates differently than what we usually see on TV, [portraying] that was really important to us. A lot of the times you get a lack of affection, let alone how to communicate in words how you feel inside to be able to communicate it with the other person.
It was just a wonderful team, and I really love Jake’s ability to communicate things to actors in a really beautiful way, and to know that he’s been in that position before. He really knows how to deliver his notes.
Blue volunteers to get tested to donate his bone marrow, then he finds out that his dad only came back to try to get him to do that and save his life. That makes Blue basically rescind the offer, but those results are looming. Where is he emotionally as he walks away at that moment?
There’s a little hint of being conflicted, but I think he’s pretty much made up his mind. But he’s human … What I love about Blue is that he, as much as he can be a hardass, blunt and kind of unpleasant at times, he is compassionate. He has compassion for his patients and his friends.
Having someone who derailed his life, and growing up not knowing who his father was and having him come in and already feel betrayed by him is a hard pill to swallow. At this point in time, it’s kind of like he’s dead to him. But we’ll see what more could be revealed that might make him feel differently.
Blue found his way back to Richard’s good graces and is still working in the VIP floor, now he has this family twist. What’s next for him?
A lot more. He still has to get his nerves back. Dr. Weber was able to give him a little bit of grace for doing good work, but there’s still so much more he has to prove. He made a huge mistake, and he still has to earn that place he was working so hard for.
There’s going to be a lot of roadblocks. Not in the sense of obstacles outside, but more obstacles that he places on himself, and trying to follow all the rules to make sure he doesn’t break any, because at this point he’s walking on eggshells.
This “Grey’s” storyline is happening as you participate on “Dancing With the Stars.” How’s it been juggling such an arduous competition as Blue’s story heats up this season?
It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Every week, I have to be disciplined about finding time for myself, even if it’s just five minutes. But it’s also been a dream being on two hit shows at the same time. Scheduling hurts my brain when I have to think about it, and I’m sure it hurts the people who are putting the schedules together even more.
And I’m incredibly grateful that I get to find this joy in something that I felt like it was gone with dancing. And to be able to kind of switch back and forth has been really nice. At “Grey’s,” I’m standing in an OR, not moving at all and very focused on that. And then when I go to “Dancing,” I never stop moving, I’m on the other spectrum. And there’s also making sure I give time to my family.
It’s been a huge lesson in saying, “If you put your mind to something and you have a good team and good people around you, you can accomplish a lot of things that would seem impossible.” I feel like I have three jobs right now, but I’m taking it in stride and enjoying this. I’m in the semifinals, which is incredible.
You’ve been so busy this fall and are doing really well on these shows, and now both the “Glee” reboot and the “Crazy Rich Asians” series are surely coming to knock on your door. How does it feel to reach this level of career success?
When I was younger and starting off, I watched a lot of people who had these types of opportunities. I would think, “What I wouldn’t give to know what that feels like, to have so many opportunities to showcase the thing that you love to do.” I’m getting that 1794542942, and I’m really so grateful.
I’ve been in the industry over 20 years, and having this moment is really beautiful. I’m looking at it as something where it could be gone in an instant. It could be gone so quickly. So I’m really cherishing it. This journey has allowed me to really be as present as possible. I’ve never done a reality show like this where you tell people to vote. But it does mean a lot that people come out every week to vote.
“Grey’s Anatomy” airs Thursdays on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu. “Dancing With the Stars” airs Tuesdays on ABC and Disney+ and streams the next day on Hulu.
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