Grey’s Kelly McCreary Weighs In on Maggie and Winston’s Split — and the Romance That Freaked Out Fans
The doctor is out. Thursday’s Grey’s Anatomy double header marked the end of Kelly McCreary’s nine-ish-season run as Maggie Pierce, the previously-unknown daughter of Richard Webber and the late Ellis Grey. (Read the recap of the back-to-back episodes here.) As the actress sets off to pursue other opportunities, she spares a moment to discuss with TVLine Maggie and Winston’s split, that heart-swelling final shot and the love affair that weirded the audience out.
TVLINE | I was happily surprised that Maggie and Winston’s parting wound up being so, in a way, inspiring. Did you have a hand in that?
I thought, “I’m making this request to find a way to wrap up Maggie’s storyline.” Beyond that, I sort of had to leave it in the hands of the writers, and I loved the way they did it. It honored her time at Grey Sloan and with the family that she had made there in such a beautiful way. Yes, there were definitely bitter moments, but it wasn’t all bitter. Nothing is ever all one thing. Everything has elements of dark and light and shades of gray in between. So it was pretty wonderful to have that reflected in the last couple of episodes.
TVLINE | Was it hard for you to pull the plug on this on-screen relationship you’d worked so hard to build?
I feel like the way they did it was really right and appropriate. I also feel like, especially in comparison to the way Maggie’s previous relationships have ended, it was mature and civil. More than civil, there was real understanding and compassion between Maggie and Winston in the end. It leaves the door open for them [to reunite], maybe in some other universe, maybe in Chicago. [Laughs]
TVLINE | The last shot of Maggie with her two mothers was so powerful. What in your mind was Maggie thinking in the moment before she saw them and the moment after?
I think she was wrestling with the question of who is she and what does she want. She’s been doing that since she first got to Grey Sloan, but she’s been doing it more than ever since the conflict in her relationship began at the end of last season. She’s been like, “What am I doing? Who do I want to be? Where will I get the tools?” And she finds that she’s been given them by her mothers. And now, it’s like, “Great, what is my responsibility to their legacy? How do I take what they gave me and build on it and honor them?”
TVLINE | Do you think Maggie has thought through what it might feel like to come back to Seattle and find that Winston has moved on with someone else?
Oooh. That’s a great question. I think Maggie is living her absolute best life in Chicago, and she wants that for him. That is the beautiful thing that they leave each other with is that understanding. “I’ve gotta stay here, you’ve gotta go. It sucks. Maybe we could have worked it out if we were able to stay here together, but that’s really neither here nor there, because we just don’t want the same things out of life right now.”
TVLINE | Looking back, what story arc are you the most proud of?
It’s hard to rate them. I love the Diane stuff — and recovering from [her passing]. Maggie was going through such a difficult time, and she was handled with compassion and love by everyone but also with a firm shoulder shake by everyone at the hospital. That was beautiful. She went through a tough thing, and I love being able to keep that with her. I always thought of Diane and Ellis — they were the foundation of my backstory and all the choices I would make about the character and what she wanted. I always thought about what they gave her. It’s impossible to escape the influence of your parents, whether they’re here or not.
TVLINE | I’ve gotta ask. Fans had such strong feelings about Maggie and Jackson’s pairing. Did the stepsibling factor give you pause?
Honestly, I’ve gotta say, that was so weird, because they were not stepsiblings. They were not related at all! And they were adults. But I get it. Once something gets in your mind and sort of disrupts your ability to go along with something, you’ll find lots of reasons to criticize it. So that was what it was, I guess.
The notion people had that they were step-siblings was so crazy. Maggie wasn’t raised by Richard. She only met him as an adult. She only met Jackson as an adult. Richard didn’t raise Jackson. He had married his mother only recently. In no way, shape or form had they ever been, in any capacity, treated as siblings. Neither were they related by blood.
The show made a big deal about them being ‘stepsiblings’ the real issue is that there was no chemistry between them, and then April makes an off the cuff remark, all of a sudden we are supposed to believe that they should be together, when they were 2 extremely different people, with very different desires in life
Meredith and Maggie had the same mother but your right, Jackson and Maggie were in no way related except by marriage.
They weren’t even related by marriage. If Maggie’s legal dad had married Catherine, then they’d be. But Richard isn’t legally recognized as Maggie’s dad so his marriage to Catherine doesn’t form any legal/marital relationship between her and the Averys. Catherine isn’t her step-mum and Jackson isn’t her step brother.
Odd that, of the recent departures, this might have been handled the best?
I mean.. I get what she’s saying about them not being step siblings but my problem was that the show leaned so heavily into the notion. There were so many jokes about them being siblings on screen that I can’t really blame audiences to get weirded out by that. If they wanted it to be a non issue, Atleast the show shouldn’t have made it a point of conversation at all. The rest of course cannot be controlled.
I don’t remember seeing much of those kinds of jokes, or related comments, in the show itself. In online commentary, more so.
It was definitely more loud online but I remember their whole buildup being around “are we related?” Jackson & Catherine both called her his “sister” at a point. Heck iirc Jackson said “we aren’t related” right before asking her out!
They put a pause on it while they were together but even after the breakup there were comments from Deluca & Dean about how sibling ish it seemed. idk for me, that’s enough conversation to make it odd.
Don’t forget the same episode they had their first kiss in, April asked “ohh are you two a thing now, your parents must be thrilled.”
And the boat episode where Jackson brought a boat and thd guys hung out there, and he talked about having a sister
The whole point of the conversation on the boat was that neither Jackson nor the other guys thought of Maggie as his sister. Cos she wasn’t.
Great interview, looks like Maggie got a happy exit with what she’s passionate for. I wish we’d gotten more meaty storyline’s for her over the years (like the Diane one) but good luck to Kelly for the future!
I loved Maggie and Jackson together. I love Winston. Glad he is staying. I really don’tlike Amelia, teddy, or Owen as central characters for next year. Strong new blood is needed. More Linc also.
I never fell in love with her character, probably because in my mind Cristina was the cardio god and Meredith’s person. No one else could truly fill those roles, even after 9 years
The funniest bit about the last comment is that the first people I recall calling them siblings? Jesse & Kelly themselves.
In an insta post they made years before Jaggie was even a thing on the show. The pic had them laughing and the caption said something about how you’re kinda siblings but someone asks if you’re dating..
So why were they confused that the audience thought so when they thought so at one point too? I’m guessing they’d never imagined the show actually going there and then had to make a 180.
They didn’t call them siblings. That post made fun of the idea that anyone could call them that. The confusion comes from the fact that they aren’t related at all.
Umm the caption actually was making fun of the notion of the characters dating & laughing that anyone would think that. Heck even the pic had siblings written in the background.
I’m not saying I agree necessarily but that was what the post said. & like I said, this was years before jaggie was a thing so this conversation wasn’t even happening in the fandom.
A good two episodes farewell way better than Meredith and Both will be returning for the season finale.
The situation between Maggie and Winston is the same of Meredith and Derek season 11. Meredith and Winston wanted to stay to be their own not a shadow of Derek and Maggie and these two wanted to follow their dreams and not gulited because of their passion.
I liked Jackson and Maggie, and like kelly said if you don’t like, you’ll find lots of reasons to criticize it
You can’t be ok with Barry and Iris and not be ok with Maggie and Jackson.
The Thing with Maggie and Jackson is that the show made it a thing that they’re kinda related. The whole build up of their relationship was “Are we related??” I didn’t even care about that until they brought it up themselves, my biggest issue was there was no chemistry and it felt more friendly between them till April said a random line.
The show tried valiantly to make Maggie and Jackson a thing for so long, despite the fact that the fans weren’t into it. I don’t think the step-sibling aspect was the problem. It just honestly seemed like the show runner wanted it to work and couldn’t give up on it, but almost nobody else was into it. Vast majority of viewers just wanted April and Jackson together and assumed they were endgame.
Thank God Winston didn’t go running after her.
I’m sorry Kelly but they are step siblings their parents are married to each other. I don’t care if they were adults and didn’t grow up together there is still an ick factor to Jackson and Maggie as a couple.
“I’m sorry Kelly, my feelings remain the same irrespective of actual fact. I don’t care that they aren’t actually related at all”
Now there are only two original cast members left, Chandra (Bailey) and James (Webber). Ellen will be back for an episode soon, hopefully she will be there for at least 5-10 episodes a season, seeing as the show was named for her character. While long running shows are great, not many shows make it more than 2 to 3 seasons anymore, this is a problem. Either cast members get bored or think the grass is greener elsewhere, (most are barely if ever heard from again, unless as a producer or director), or they get greedy wanting more money every year in large amounts. I do hope this show lasts but I have my doubts. If Ellen does leave for good, they may as well give the show a new name, because with only 2 originals left, and no Ellen, it’s not Greys anatomy anymore.
“Grey’s Legacy” sounds good to me.
Never had a problem with Maggie and Jackson being stepsiblings. That was never the issue. There was just no chemistry and instead of realizing it, the writers tried to sell them so hard it became insufferable.