“He had the gravitas & old soul that made his work magnetic and made him a great friend off set,” the actress remembered of her late costar.

Kate Walsh recalls first *Grey’s Anatomy *scene with Eric Dane: ‘He was so handsome…but can this guy act?’

"He had the gravitas & old soul that made his work magnetic and made him a great friend off set," the actress remembered of her late costar.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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February 21, 2026 12:36 p.m. ET

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Kate Walsh as Dr. Addison Montgomery and Eric Dane Dr. Mark Sloan on 'Grey's Anatomy' in 2007. Credit:

Michael Desmond/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

- Kate Walsh shared a sweet memory of her first onscreen encounter with Eric Dane on *Grey's Anatomy*.

- The actress behind Addison Montgomery recalled, "He was so handsome and I thought ‘but can this guy act?'"

- Dane died on Thursday at 53, less than a year after he announced his ALS diagnosis.

*Grey’s Anatomy* star Kate Walsh is remembering her first time sharing the screen with Eric Dane.

The actress behind Dr. Addison Montgomery shared a sweet post remembering her late costar, who died at 53 on Thursday less than a year after announcing his ALS diagnosis.

"I'm at a loss for words to try to express the sadness around Eric’s passing," Walsh's Instagram post began as she shared her sympathy with Dane's wife Rebecca Gayheart and their daughters. "First and foremost I am thinking of his girls and Rebecca and holding them in my prayers and my heart."

Walsh said that her first-ever scene with Dane was an elevator scene in the show's central hospital — and that she wasn't completely confident in his acting abilities at first.

"I believe it was his first scene on the show too and he was nervous," the actress recalled. "He was so handsome and I thought 'but can this guy act?'"

Eric Dane and Kate Walsh on 'Private Practice' in 2009.

Eric McCandless/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Dane quickly assuaged Walsh's skepticism.

"Of course he could, and did, and the rest is history," she wrote.

The actress went on to detail her admiration for Dane's personality on and off screen.

"One of the things I loved about Eric was his sensitivity and vulnerability, (and intelligence, of course) but he had the gravitas & old soul that made his work magnetic and made him a great friend off set," she wrote. "In those early days of *Grey’s*, as with most network tv shows, we spent more time with each other than with anyone else and so we became a family of sorts and Eric was such a source of support and love."

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Walsh ended her remarks with a call to support ALS research.

"ALS is an awful disease & too many people have lost loved ones to it," she wrote, adding a shout-out to Target ALS, an organization that Dane supported after his diagnosis. "I know it was Eric's mission to help find a cure. I would encourage you to look into @targetals in his memory."

Walsh first appeared on *Grey's* as a guest star in season 1, episode 9. She became a series regular in season 2 — and appeared alongside Dane when he debuted on the show in season 2, episode 18. They both worked as series regulars on the show's third season, and their characters were sporadically romantically entangled before Walsh left to headline the spinoff *Private Practice*. Dane guested on an episode of *Private Practice* in season 2 in 2009 and in another in season 3 in 2010.

Eric Dane on 'Grey's Anatomy'.

Bob D'Amico/Disney via getty

Dane remained on *Grey's Anatomy* until the season 9 premiere on Sept. 27, 2012, when his character, Dr. Mark Sloan, was killed in a plane crash. In 2021, he also appeared in a dream sequence in a season 17 episode.

Walsh guested on *Grey's* six times between seasons 4 and 8, and recurred across eight episodes in seasons 18 and 19. She most recently appeared in a season 22 episode last month.

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The actress is not the first *Grey's* star to pay tribute to Dane. Patrick Dempsey, who portrayed Dr. Derek Shepherd on the show, discussed his memories of the late *Euphoria* star in an interview with *The Chris Evans Breakfast Show* on Friday.

"He was the funniest man — he was such a joy to work with and I want to just remember him in that spirit because any time he was on set, he brought so much fun to it," Dempsey remembered. "He had a great sense of humor. He was easy to work with, we got along instantly. First scene was him, you know, in all his glory, coming out of the bathroom with the towel on looking amazing, making you feel completely out of shape and insignificant."

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