GREY'S ANATOMY'S ANTHONY HILL ON RISING THROUGH CHALLENGES, PURPOSE, AND ONENESS
BY IRVIN RIVERA
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American actor ANTHONY HILL plays Doctor Winston Ndugu, a Black cardiothoracic surgeon, in the 19th season of Grey's Anatomy. Hill describes his character as "a virtuous man in and out of his profession."
Although Hill seamlessly plays doctor Ndugu's character in the show, there are some challenges that are not that obvious to the audience. For instance, the "elaborate surgery scenes this show is known for, are taught and explained to the actors literally ten minutes before we shoot it."
Aside from Grey's Anatomy, Anthony can also be seen at Station 19, This Is Us, Watchmen (Miniseries), For The People, Silicon Valley, How To Get Away with Murder, Scream (The TV Series), and more.
In this exclusive interview, Anthony Hill talks about the challenges and the highs of being in Grey's Anatomy, his dream project, life lessons and why The Alchemist is the book that represents his journey.
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Hi Anthony How are you? How are you doing? What’s keeping you busy nowadays?
I'm doing’ just fine and dandy. Greys Anatomy is keeping me busier than ever nowadays.
How was it filming Season 19th of Grey’s Anatomy?
It's a dream. I'm still out there pinching myself every other day on set. Enjoying the experience.
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How’s Dr. Winston Ndugu’s character evolution throughout the show?
Well it's been a slow burn to get the characters personality fleshed out, but it's been fun. He started out pretty safe, and pretty perfect tbh, but now we're starting to see aspects of him and his life that aren’t so wonderful. I’m looking forward to exploring his layers more this season.
Since being part of the Grey’s Anatomy cast, and binge watching the show before being on it, tell us something memorable or shocking that you discovered, especially now that you’re part of it.
It's pretty wild that these elaborate surgery scenes this show is known for, are taught and explained to the actors literally ten minutes before we shoot it. That still surprises me, and stresses me out. It's not easy to pull off detailed O.R. scenes with such little prep, but we always find a way.
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What’s the best part about playing your character?
I think the best part is just the fact that I'm representing a Black cardiothoracic surgeon, who is such a virtuous man in and out of his profession. It's an important reality to show on network primetime television. I'm proud to be able to do it.
Talk about the challenges and the highs that you experienced during filming?
Anything, and everything, related to medical terminology and surgical procedures is pretty challenging to me. (And that's literally every episode, considering I play a doctor, so needless to say, I remain challenged with this project ). An example of a high would be getting a five minute crash course on how to tie an Aberdeen knot to close an incision, then tie off and cut the prolene suture to complete the procedure, THEN film it successfully while somehow looking like I know what I'm doing. It’s pretty fulfilling.
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How did you manage to rise above the challenges?
There are little tricks I'll do while memorizing lines for surgery scenes, or scenes where I'll be doing medical procedures. I might try to figure out a math problem while I go over dialogue, so my brain has to focus on two things at once. That way when I shoot the surgery scene and I'm actually suturing a liver, I won’t have to strain to find the words as well.
What’s the most memorable moment for you throughout the whole process of filming the series so far?
The most memorable moment for me, so far, is probably filming half of episode 2 in season 18 with Kelly McCreary (Maggie Pierce), and then her going on maternity leave with half of the episode still unfinished. Producers decided to reshoot everything Kelly had shot, and give her storyline and dialogue to me. So I worked every day, including weekends, for two weeks until it was all reshot and finished just in time to air. It was wild. Pure chaos. But I grew a lot as an actor in that experience.
What is your proudest moment of your career so far?
Being on Grey's. I have had the opportunity to tell some really important stories on this show. For example in season 17, fresh off the heels of George Floyd's murder, we did an episode involving race relations and protests in America, and my character was pulled over and racially profiled by law enforcement.
People come up to me all the time, still, telling me what those scenes meant to them, and how that episode affected them. I think starting hard conversations that otherwise may not have happened, is a beautiful thing about film, TV, and storytelling in general. The impact that episode continues to have on people is incredible. I'm really proud I was a part of it.
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Can you walk us through your creative process whenever you go and film a scene? How do you mentally and physically prepare for your scenes?
Scene preparation differs day to day, episode to episode based on subject matter, and dialogue, etc. BUT one thing I always do is stretch. I played football in college, and have been an athlete my whole life, so it's a habitual action that carried over to acting. There's something about warming up like I'm about to compete that feels necessary to me before scenes. It's part of my prep.
Who and what inspires you?
My mom, my dad, my sister, and my 3 year old nephew all inspire me. Children inspire me. Animals inspire me. Music inspires me. Other artists across the spectrum inspire me. Seeing people who are meticulous and passionate with what they do, no matter what it is, inspires me.
What’s your dream project?
Anything involving time travel, I'm here for it. And I love a good suspenseful murder mystery. If you combined those, I'd be playing a time traveling serial killer. Sounds like a winner.
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Out of all the roles that you’ve played, is there any role/character that resonated with you the most and why?
There are definitely roles I've played that I wish were bigger, because I know I would've had a lot of fun playing them. One of those was a young law student named "Noah" on How to get Away with Murder. One of Annalise's students, years before the ones we came to know on that show. It was a verrry small role that I wish would've been expanded, because I know it would've been a fun one.
How do you mentally deal with fame?
I don't consider myself famous. Beyonce is famous. I think it's more accurate to say I'm a dude who happens to be on a famous show. People know what Grey's Anatomy is even if they've never watched it. That's wild. But when people want selfies, or come up to me and say how much they love the show, I always see it as a positive. I'm pretty lucky to be a part of something that people care about. I don't take it for granted.
If you’re not acting, what else keeps you busy?
I love to box. I like to write. I'm starting to dive into music production. And I can jump on YouTube and go down a rabbit hole that lasts hours. It's a problem.
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What’s a valuable lesson that you’ve learned that you always carry with you?
If someone tells you you're really really good, or really really bad, either way, take it with a grain of salt. People's opinions are literally a figment of their imagination.
If you were a book, what book would you be and why?
The Alchemist. The idea of alchemy is very representative of my journey, the magic of transforming negative to positive and using what’s around me to make something that is new.
One of the major themes in The Alchemist is purpose. I’m currently piecing together my true purpose in life. That may be true for everyone in some capacity, but is definitely true for me.
Lastly, the concept of interconnectedness and oneness is an undeniable truth for us all, and I think that is an aspect of life we should all be reminded of, and embrace.
