beautiful way to send him off. To
have the last image of him be
who he wanted to be was a testa-
ment to Shonda.
SinceGrey’s, you’ve returned
to the stage.
Theater was what I was raised
on. It was great. I got to do two
Broadway shows [A Life in the
Theatre and It’s Only a Play], two
Off Broadway shows [Pocatello
and Romeo & Juliet]. Every project
I just nerded out big-time. I loved
that reveal. I loved that he was
so unrecognizable because of the
accident. This is the genius of
Shonda: When we finished the
show, I shaved my head. But then
they called to shoot the elevator
scene [in which Katherine Heigl’s
Izzie was in a near-death dream
state], and I was like, s---, will there
be a wig? But it was Shonda’s
idea to put me in an Army uniform,
and I just thought it was such a
gives you something different,
and there’s that challenge you
can’t re-create on a soundstage,
and vice versa. Every little experi-
ence hopefully challenges you—
that’s why we’re doing this instead
of banking, right? I also just
shotWhen We Rise(see sidebar),
which is going to air soon. To
have a small part in telling an epic
story of gay rights, women’s
rights, and civil rights all coming
together—I can’t wait to see it.
When you yourself came out in
Peoplein 2006, you said, “I hope
the fact that I’m gay isn’t the most
interestingpartofme.”Inalotof
ways you were pushed to go pub-
lic about your sexuality, but your
turn of phrase was very inspiring.
Looking back, would you have
done anything differently?
As far as doing things differently,
my mind doesn’t go there. I had
a choice. I guess I could’ve done
the glass-closet thing, but I knew
people who were living like that,
and it wasn’t an option for me.
I just didn’t want to live that way.
Even though it was a little dra-
matic for a couple of years, every
event led to something else. My
departure fromGrey’sled me
to go back to New York, which led
me to meeting my husband. He
really is the best thing that’s
ever happened to me. So I wouldn’t
want to do anything differently
because everything has built
up to this point in my life. I’m
pretty damn lucky. My challenge
is to deserve him and to be
better—unlike some of the people
I play—to work on myself so I
can save the crazy for the role!X
( Clockwise from left )
Knight; with Mireille
Enos onThe Catch;
Knight’s tearjerker of a
death scene onGrey’s
42 (2013)
“There are some jobs that just
make you wake up in the morning
and you can’t believe you’re a
part of it,” he recalls of portraying
real-life Dodgers publicity chief
Harold Parrott in the Jackie
Robinson biopic.
IT’S ONLY A PLAY (2015)
Knight had to strip down to his
skivvies for this star-studded
Broadway comedy. “Some
people get hired to take off their
clothes and it’s not for laughs—
I don’t know what that’s like,”
Knight says. “You’re not going
to hire me to come out of the
shower like Eric Dane.”
11.22.63 (2016)
“We got to shoot on Dealey
Plaza, which was a very eerie
and emotional experience,”
he recalls of filming Hulu’s time-
travel miniseries about the
JFK assassination.
WHEN WE RISE (2017)
Knight admired costar Guy Pearce
in the upcoming ABC docudrama
(see pages 87, 90). “He’s a strong
character and such a good guy.
It was great to act with him.”
FEBRUARY 24/MARCH 3, 2017 EW.COM 67
THE CATCH
: NICOLE WILDER/ABC;
42
: © WARNER BROS. PICTURES/EVERETT COLLECTION;
IT’S ONLY A PLAY
:
WALTER MCBRIDE/GETTY IMAGES;
11.22.63
: MARCO GROB/HULU;
WHEN WE RISE
: EIKE SCHROTER/ABC