Grey's Anatomy's Caterina Scorsone: Amelia's "Dark, Tragic Past" Comes Back to Haunt Her

Caterina Scorsone

Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) has made afresh start for herself in Seattle but her past will come back to haunt her in a major wayon Thursday'sepisode ofGrey's Anatomy.

"I'm excited about it because I think we've been really gradual in introducing Amelia as a regular onGrey's," Scorsone says. "We've gotten some of the fun, funny aspects of her personality. She's a really straight-shooting, sarcastic and funny girl, but we haven't learned a lot about her backstory. And Amelia has such a deep, dark, tragic backstory. ... So, you're going to see the other side, kind of the well underneath the laughter, for Amelia."

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Fans ofPrivate Practiceare already familiar with the skeletons in Amelia's closet including her longstanding struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction, her fianc Ryan (Wes Brown) dying from an accidental drug overdose, and the birth and subsequent death of her son. But, aside from a scene of her running into Richard (James Pickens Jr.) at an AA meeting in theGrey'sSeason 11 premiere, none of that has played a major role in Amelia's arc at Grey Sloan Memorial until now.

Will whatever secrets come to light drive a permanent wedge between Amelia and her older brother, Derek (Patrick Dempsey)? TVGuide.com chatted with Scorsone, who was promoted to a series regular onGrey'sthis season, to find out.

So, a mystery person from Amelia's past show's up this week? Caterina Scorsone:It's not an ex-boyfriend, but it is somebody who has access to all of her history.

We've seen Amelia relapse before. Is she in danger of that happening again, or is her struggle here more about keeping her secrets under wraps from her new colleagues? Scorsone:The big focus in this episode is that she has worked so hard after the tragedies that she went through and after her relapse to rebuild her life with integrity and focus and generosity. ... And here, the dark parts of her life kind of come crashing back. For the last few episodes onGrey's, she's been struggling to prove herself as worthy of the title of chief of neurosurgery, and this is just so potentially undermining to that. I think she feels this whole life she's built for herself here in Seattle threatened.

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How does Derek react to the situation? Scorsone:That's a big focus in the episode, their relationship. Basically, Amelia's kind of always looked to Derek to be this example, a virtuous guide in her life and kind of father figure. She really expects him to come to her aid and support her when she's faced with this totally exposing situation, and he kind of drops the ball a little bit. And I think it shocks her and I think it shocks him. I think it does fundamentally change the way Amelia sees their dynamic in their relationship.

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Grey's Anatomy's Caterina Scorsone: Amelia's "Dark, Tragic Past" Comes Back to Haunt Her