"I was f**ked up" — When Eric Dane opened up about being fired from Grey’s Anatomy and his struggles with addiction

Actor Eric Dane became an overnight sensation for his role as Dr. Mark Sloan aka McSteamy on ABC's medical drama series Grey's Anatomy. He reflected on his exit from the series during his appearance on the Armchair Podcast, hosted by Dax Shepard, on June 24, 2024. Dane revealed that he was likely "let go" for financial reasons as he had "become very expensive for the network."

The Americana star added that his addiction to drugs and alcohol also played a role in his departure from the hit series. Dane shared that he was sober for three to four years before joining Grey's Anatomy in 2006, but relapsed during the 2007 writers' strike as he grappled with his sudden rise to fame. He entered rehab in July 2011 for his addiction to painkillers.

"If you take the whole eight years on Grey’s Anatomy, I was f**ked up longer than I was sober. And that’s when things started going sideways for me," he said.

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A look at Eric Dane's exit from Grey's Anatomy

Eric Dane joined the hit ABC series in a guest role at the end of season 2 in 2006. He quickly became a fan-favorite character and was promoted to series regular in the next season. However, after seven seasons, his character was written off from the series with a heartbreaking ending.

Mark Sloan suffered serious injuries in the plane crash that killed his lover, Lexie Grey, from the season 8 finale. He slipped into a coma and his situation failed to improve over the next month. Hence, Sloan was taken off life support in the first episode of season 9 in 2012.

In September 2012, the showrunner, Shonda Rhimes, explained her reasons for ending Mark Sloan's storyline on a tragic note by writing on her WhoSay page. The note said:

"I had many options for ways Mark could leave the show. But any option that didn’t include him dying required him to a) grieve for Lexie indefinitely and b) willingly walk away from his daughter."

The note continued:

"We fought about this incessantly in the Writers Room. I didn’t want Mark to die but, as the writers rightfully argued back, Mark couldn’t abandon Sofia and he certainly couldn’t abandon Callie once Arizona’s leg was amputated."

Later, Eric Dane returned to the series in a guest role for an episode of season 17, which aired on April 1, 2021. While Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) was in a COVID-induced coma, she was seen reuniting with her husband Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), sister Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh), George O’Malley (T. R. Knight), Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti), and Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) on an imaginary beach.

On April 10, 2025, the 52-year-old actor revealed exclusively to People Magazine that he was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative condition, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

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Eric Dane starred in the film Borderline in 2025

Eric Dane's latest film appearance was in the comedy thriller Borderline, released on March 14, 2025. The movie was written by Jimmy Warden and also marked his directorial debut. Tom Ackerley, Brian Duffield, Josey McNamara, and Hadeel Reda served as the film's producers.

Set in 1990s Los Angeles, the film followed Eric Dane as the bodyguard Bell, who was tasked with protecting the famous pop star Sofia (Samara Weaving) from an obsessive fan, Duerson (Ray Nicholson), hell-bent on marrying her.

Jimmie Fails, Alba Baptista, Patrick Cox, Terence Kelly, Catherine Lough Haggquist, Yasmeen Kelders, April Cameron, David Jacox, Chris Shields, and Matthew Del Bel Belluz rounded out the film's supporting cast.

Borderline was met with mixed reviews upon its release and scored a 56% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 41 critics' reviews. It was made on a budget of $5 million, but Box Office Mojo reported that the film earned $13,847 in total box office collections.

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Viewers can stream all episodes of Grey's Anatomy on Hulu.