How Eric Dane’s Dr. Mark Sloan Became The Emotional Core Of Grey’s Anatomy By Accident – SlashFilm

In 2009, Linda Lowy, the casting director for “Grey’s Anatomy,” a bona-fide hit after premiering as a humble mid-season replacement in 2005, spoke to Variety about how she found the right actors to play beautiful, talented doctors working at a fictional Seattle hospital. That’s when she weighed in on Eric Dane, who joined the series as a mere guest star in season 2 and was a regular by season 3. “You can’t forget about McSteamy,” she said, referring to the Mark Sloan character’s cheeky nickname gifted to him by thirsty surgical interns. “We cast [Dane] for one episode, and I think the women across the nation went kind of crazy. Everyone was talking about him, so we decided to make him a regular.”

Dane, who died on February 19, 2026 after announcing his ALS diagnosis just 10 months prior, was much more than just a pretty face. What Lowy didn’t say is that, thanks to Dane’s charismatic and deeply felt performance, Mark became the beating heart of “Grey’s Anatomy” — and his impact on the show’s narrative remains to this day.

First things first: Who, in the universe of “Grey’s Anatomy,” is Mark Sloan anyway? A highly sought-after plastic surgeon and ENT, Mark gets the nickname “McSteamy” to compare him to his best friend, neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), who’s been dubbed “McDreamy.” When he first shows up, though, he and Derek are seriously on the outs because the inciting incident that drove Derek to move from Manhattan to Seattle was Mark having an affair with Derek’s wife, Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd (Kate Walsh). After season 2, though, Mark gets his own storylines … and they’re some of the show’s best.

Even though “Grey’s Anatomy” puts a huge focuses on the show’s romances, especially the long-running central relationship between Derek Shepherd and Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), its friendships end up being the characters’ strongest bonds. The obvious example here is the iconic friendship between Meredith and her cardiothoracic surgeon bestie Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), but I’m here to make a case for one of the show’s other best friendships: the one between Mark Sloan and Dr. Callie Torres, an orthopedic surgeon played by Sara Ramírez.

In the third season, Callie and Mark strike up a casual sexual relationship — on the basis of nothing other than, honestly, they’re both really hot — but their “friends with benefits” arrangement is sort of a constant throughout the show, and it yields some genuinely surprising results. Not only did Dane and Ramírez have crackling chemistry during their intimate scenes, the two interacted so easily and lovingly on-screen that it was all too easy to buy their close friendship, whether or not they were intimately involved at any given moment. Even when they’re in other relationships (Callie ultimately comes out as a bisexual woman and marries Jessica Capshaw’s Dr. Arizona Robbins), they remain close, and while Callie and Arizona are briefly separated in season 7, a casual fling between Mark and Callie results in a baby: Sofia Robbins Sloan-Torres, who’s eventually born to three adoring parents.

The love between Mark and Callie is funny, sexy, sweet, and deeply emotional; when Mark dies in the two-part season 8 premiere, it’s Callie who feels the pain the most. We can’t talk about Mark’s great loves, though, without talking about Lexie.

Despite being a total smokeshow and womanizer, Mark is also a character with a big heart who loves deeply, and that’s never more apparent than in his relationship with Dr. Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh). Meredith’s half-sister joins the fray in season 3, and even though Derek forbids his lothario best friend from pursuing Lexie, that does not work. What happens, though, is surprising. Mark isn’t simply lusting after Lexie; he falls head over heels in love with her.

Because “Grey’s Anatomy” is a primetime soap first and foremost, these two lovers are torn apart time and time again, but when Leigh left the show after the season 8 finale when Lexie is killed in a plane crash, the writers wisely let Mark succumb to his injuries rather than live without the love of his life. (That’s obviously when Eric Dane left the show as well.) In his final moments, he tells his plastic surgery mentee Dr. Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) to never let the ones you love get away. As he puts it:

“I want you to promise me something. If you love someone, you tell them. Even if you’re scared that it’s not the right thing. Even if you’re scared that it will cause problems. Even if you’re scared it will burn your life to the ground. You say it, and you say it loud. And then you go from there.”

This is a beautiful sentiment, and proves that Mark’s legacy on “Grey’s Anatomy” is lasting. (After that plane crash, the hospital is also renamed Grey Sloan, and that name still stands.) “Grey’s Anatomy,” including Dane’s truly wonderful and lasting performance, is streaming on Netflix and Hulu now.