Jeffrey Dean Morgan Reveals the Role That 'Almost' Made Him Quit Acting: 'It Was Horrible'
Way back in the day, Jeffrey Dean Morgan almost decided to put his acting career behind him.
During an appearance on the web series Hot Ones, Morgan said his 2003 appearance on Star Trek: Enterprise made him contemplate his future in the entertainment business.
"It turns out I'm claustrophobic. I had a really hard time doing the makeup process, and I had straws in my nose," the Walking Dead star, 54, told host Sean Evans. "I've never been on a set where I went home at night and just thought, 'What am I doing? I've made the worst f---ing decision of my life. I don't ever want to be an actor again.' Like, I was sure that this was just wrong, and it almost made me quit. It was horrible."
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Morgan played a Xindi-Reptilian during his early aughts Star Trek gig. During an interview with Entertainment Weekly about the part in 2012, he opened up about complications surrounding the prosthetic he was required to wear.
"I had to pay my bills. I knew I'd play some guy saying some stuff. Then I got a call saying I needed to go in for a prosthetic fitting," he said at the time. "I remember them dripping goop on my face, and I had straws sticking out of my nose. I couldn't eat lunch. I was claustrophobic. I'd go home in tears."
Of course, he stuck it out — and went on to land roles in a number of prominent shows, including The Good Wife and Supernatural. He has also appeared in various films, such as Rampage and Watchmen.
One of Morgan's favorite roles was that of Denny Duquette on Grey's Anatomy. During his Hot Ones appearance, he said he "begged" series creator Shonda Rhimes to let him stay on the show, though his character was ultimately killed off during season 5 in 2009.
"Grey's Anatomy, I knew was something special. That's the one time that I saw my death coming and was trying anything I could to get out of that death," he said. "That character Denny and that love story with Izzie [Katherine Heigl] took the world by storm."
"I knew how f---ing lucky I was to be there, and I was like, 'Please don't kill me,'" Morgan added. "I did, I begged [Shonda]. That's what changed my life. Being Denny, where I never got out of bed, is why [director] Zack Snyder hired me to be the Comedian [in Watchmen]. That's how special that was."