Oscar winner Denzel Washington is heading to Shondaland and will step behind the camera for his TV debut. The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Denzel Washington, a multi-awarded winning actor has been tapped to direct an upcoming episode of ABC's Grey's Anatomy.
Washington will direct episode nine of the 12th season of Shonda Rhimes-Betsy Beers medical drama, which will be penned by head writer Stacy McKee and is scheduled to start production this month.
Grey's Anatomy will mark Denzel Washington's TV directing debut. Washington has previously directed two film features including 2002's Antwone Fisher and 2007's The Great Debaters. Washington will reunite in this Grey's gig with his longtime friend Debbie Allen, who also directs and exec produces the Ellen Pompeo starrer.
Variety has confirmed that actor Denzel Washington is going to direct an episode of "Grey's Anatomy" this season.
Although Washington has already directed two films: "Antwone Fisher" in 2002 and "The Great Debaters,'' in 2007 both of which he starred, Grey's gig marks Washington's first time directing in television.
Washington will direct episode nine of the current 12th season which goes into production later this month. No storyline details have been released yet, but the episode will be written by longtime "Grey's" writer/producer Stacy McKee.
Though this episode marks the first time for Washington to sit in a Shondaland director's chair, he previously visited the "How To Get Away with Murder" crew, and posed for photo opportunities with Viola Davis at a table.
Washington has close ties also with Debbie Allen, a full-time exec producer on "Grey's" for Season 12. Allen has directed a slew of TGIT episodes on all three shows and is in charge of choosing the episodic directors for the long-running medical drama.
Allen told Variety, "I'm selecting the directors this season," and put an emphasis on hiring women behind the scenes. "Over our 24 episodes, 10 of them are directed by women, and I'm still looking."