When it came to landing her full-time gig on Grey’s Anatomy, Jessica Capshaw will admit — the third time’s the charm. She auditioned once, she auditioned twice, but it wasn’t until the third opportunity came around that she finally scored a part. The role? Playing Dr. Arizona Robbins, a pediatric surgeon at Seattle Grace and the much-buzzed-about love interest of fellow hospital staffer Callie Torres (played by Sara Ramirez). Originally intended to be a three-episode story arc in season five of the show, Capshaw’s portrayal of Robbins was an instant hit, resulting in the immediate (and indefinite) extension of her contract. Now, a series regular in the show’s sixth season, Capshaw can’t believe her luck. Here, she talks about what it’s like to join the cast of her favorite show and explains why she’s certain she has increased the Grey’s Anatomy fan base by at least two.

Tell me about your return to Grey’s Anatomy. What’s it like to be back on the show, this time as a series regular?
I’m so grateful. Every part of this experience has been fantastic. I’ve just so enjoyed playing this character and I’ve been really lucky to work with the people that I do. The part that I wasn’t expecting was the show’s fan base. Grey’s Anatomy has such a committed and loyal group of viewers. I’ve been so surprised by the reaction and how people will just come up to you and talk about the show and tell you how they feel about it. It has all been really wonderful.

Speaking of fans, your character has developed quite a following. How do you explain Arizona’s impact on viewers?
It’s a complete conundrum to me because here is this show that was just a huge phenomenon. I think everyone attached to it would say that as well. I mean, it’s not without hard work and certainly everyone earns it, but it’s just so rare that a show can catch fire like that. And to now be on it and in it’s sixth season, it kind of makes me blush. I mean, I’m very happy about it, but I have no idea how I’m doing it and I hope I just somehow continue to do whatever it is I am doing!

Have you always been a fan of the show? You auditioned for it a couple of times…
Two years ago, I had a baby and my agent knew I was timing out for a bit. A week and a half after I gave birth, he called and said, ‘Listen, I don’t mean to pressure you, but there’s this eight-episode story arc on Grey’s Anatomy and I know you would kill me if I didn’t tell you.’ I said, ‘It’s my favorite show, I’m going!’ I had just had a baby and, even though I didn’t have an enormous amount of weight to lose, I still had a body that had just had a baby. I put on about five pairs of Spanx and figured out a very flattering and lengthening outfit to wear and I went in and auditioned. They called and said, ‘Fantastic! Can she come back and have a chemistry reading with Patrick [Dempsey]?’ I went back in and they said, ‘She’s great, but she’s not going to get it.’

Oh no!
It was so sad. I had to mourn the loss of not getting the part and go on my merry way. A year later, I found myself getting another phone call saying, ‘There’s an arc coming up on Grey’s. Would you like to go in?’ I auditioned again only to hear, ‘She’s wonderful, but she’s not right for the part.’ All I could think was, ‘Man! This is torture!’ A couple of days later, they called to tell me that they might have another part coming up soon. I waited on pins and needles and put as much good energy into the world until I finally got a phone call offering me a three-episode story arc as Dr. Arizona Robbins.

When did you first learn that your role was going to become permanent?
I was finishing my second episode when they asked me to stay on for a fourth episode. Then, at the end of that, they asked me to stay for a fifth and then a sixth. Right about the sixth, they asked me do three more. Finally, it was just, ‘Can we book you through the rest of the season?’ Soon, it was pilot season and I had to go out and try to find a job in case I wasn’t going to be on Grey’s. I had gotten a couple of offers for shows, and that was when Grey’s said, ‘Hold on, hold on.’ It was then that we worked out a contract.

Tell me about Arizona’s relationship with Callie. When they extended your role, did you expect the storyline to go in that direction?
I didn’t know anything. We were filming either the third or fourth episode when Shonda [Rhimes, the show’s creator] asked to talk to me. We talked about the character and the first thing we spoke about was the scene where I kiss Callie in the bathroom. I didn’t know how long I was staying on Grey’s so it wasn’t, ‘We’re going to take the character in this direction and have this relationship evolve,’ it was more, ‘Let’s talk about things as they come.’

As Arizona, you play one of the only lesbian characters on network television today. Is there a pressure that comes with a role like that?
I don’t know that there’s pressure so much as there’s a responsibility. I feel like, here I am, a married-to-a-man woman with a child. I don’t have experience in that wheelhouse if you will, but as an actor, you want to bring the most thoughtful, honest and precise rendering of a character. You don’t have to have been a drug addict to play a drug addict. You can conjure the things you need to conjure in order to give an honest portrayal and, at the same time, have it be one that’s not sensationalized or inauthentic, but one that is actually grounded and real and true.

You seem to be getting it right…
Shonda and I definitely had that sort of ‘come to Jesus’ talk where it was like, let’s do this, but let’s do this honestly and responsibly. Again, I sort of pinch myself — I shouldn’t think about it too much because whatever I’m doing seems to be working. The thing that’s interesting is that yes, Arizona is a lesbian, but I think that people have received it well because it really just hasn’t been that big of a deal. She doesn’t think of it as a big deal and so it doesn’t seem like a big deal. Wouldn’t it be so great if the world felt that way!

Switching gears, you were born in Missouri, but traveled around quite a bit growing up…
I was born in Columbia, Missouri and then I moved to New York. I lived in New York until I was about seven years old and then we moved to the West Coast. My mom is an actress [Kate Capshaw] and back then, they ended up making movies in the places where they were meant to be shot. As a result, we moved around a lot. I think I went to something like 12 different schools before I was 12. Finally, when I got to my high school years, I said to my mom, ‘Uncle!’ We had just moved to LA and I said, I would really love to go to high school in one place. Right around that time, my mom got remarried [to director Steven Spielberg]. It was just very solid living in LA and my chance at having a normal, albeit unique, existence.

After living in so many different places, do you have a place that you consider home?
I consider Missouri home in so many different ways because, not only was I born there, but I was raised by two very centrally and uniquely and strongly Midwestern people. That being said, my father stayed in New York when we moved to LA so I always ended up going back there too. In so many ways, I have three homes. There’s my Missouri people, my New York people and my Los Angeles people.

Your mom is actress Kate Capshaw and your stepdad is Steven Spielberg — do they ever give you advice or feedback on your work?
They do! All the time. It’s always been specific to whatever I was doing at the time. I think I could unequivocally say, being on a television show that’s on every week, I now look forward to my Thursday night at 10:01 Grey’s Anatomy report. They’re just so sweet — they stay up and watch it and the minute that it’s over, they call. They love it no matter what, but if there was a lot of me, they have lots of stuff to say, but if there’s not that much of me, they’re like, ‘You know? There wasn’t that much of you tonight!’

It’s great that they tune in…
I know! They really have become fans of the show — uniquely and separately from me, I swear. I can definitely say that I got two more viewers for Grey’s Anatomy at least!

You and your husband [Christopher Gavigan] have been married for five and half years — how did the two of you meet?
We met through family. We were friends for about a year and half, but we were friends that did that crazy flirting thing with each other. But it’s hard to get together when you’re both playing hard to get! Finally, I had a boyfriend that was on-again, off-again and we broke up. When I came to my now-husband with that information, instead of going ‘Oh, I’m really sorry,’ he was like, ‘Great! What are you doing later? Let’s go get something to eat!’

Your son, Luke, recently turned two. Is it tough to juggle being a mom with a full-time TV gig?
I think anything can be difficult. I think that being a 24/7 stay-at-home mom would probably be the most difficult job of any of them. I did it for the first 13 months, and I found it to be the most rewarding, but also such hard work. [Balancing everything while on Grey’s] is challenging in new and different ways. That being said, when I first went to work, I almost felt like I was on vacation! I do think it can be nearly impossible emotionally on the weeks that you are leaving for work before your child and husband wake up and you’re coming home after they’ve gone to sleep. That part is horrible. But if you do the math, there are 16 people on the call sheet. When you’re on an ensemble show, you can’t be in every episode that much.

As the sixth season continues, what do you love the most about your new job? Besides everything? I love the writing. That’s where I think it all starts. It’s the whole, ‘If it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the stage.’ There have been speeches that I’ve had as Arizona this past year that I think have become very impactful. I’m very, very lucky that I get these little gifts — it’s a really great feeling.

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