Kate Walsh has come a long way from playing McDreamy’s wife on Grey’s Anatomy .
She had her own spinoff show called Private Practice , has appeared in countless films, and is now a fan-favorite on Umbrella Academy .
RELATED STORIES
You’ll even catch her in Netflix’s Emily in Paris !
Here are 10+ facts you might not know about the star.
1. She’s the youngest of five children.
Kate was born in San José in 1967 to an Italian mother and an Irish father.
She and her siblings were raised in California and in Tucson, Arizona after her parents divorced.
Yes, being Italian means that she *loves* to eat and cook.
“We have a lovely wine cellar at home, and I can cook,” she told Redbok Mag .
“I love to make pasta. We all love food. We yell and scream and are lots of fun at a dinner party.”
2. She had her big break at 37.
Talk about a late bloomer!
She found success as Addison Montgomery on Grey’s Anatomy . Although she was only on the show for a short time, she earned her own spinoff show called Private Practice .
The show ran for six seasons before it was cancelled in 2013.
She felt incredibly lucky to lead the show.
“Yes, I have worked hard but there are a lot of people who work very hard. This is just one of those once-in-a-lifetime deals,” she told Chateline .
3. She was a model in Japan during the ’80s.
“I was going over (to Japan) to teach English conversation, and a friend of mine was like, ‘You can make money modeling here because they’re crazy for Americans,’” Kate recalled to Today .
She said that she was too big for everything.
“It was like, ‘One of these things is not like the others.’ I (modeled) ski wear and wedding stuff, and they couldn’t hook up the back. It was like I was a circus freak!”
4. In 2015, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor called meningioma.
It was her Pilates instructor who first noticed that something was wrong.
“My pilates instructor said ‘hey, your right side is dipping,’ and it didn’t feel like I was off, but I looked down and could see it,” she told Cosmopolitan .
She faced other scary symptoms, such as swerving into the right lane while driving and cognitive difficulties.
She’s fully recovered since then after having surgery to remove the tumor.
5. She’s been arrested.
She was 26 when she threw a cue ball at a mirror in a Chicago bar.
“I remember walking into the cell and there were two other women in there spooning,” she told Women’s Health about going to jail.
“I was like, “Oh my God — lady sandwich! What’s going to happen to me?!”
6. She has her own beauty and perfume line.
Her makeup brand is called Boyfriend LLC, and she has a perfume collection by a similar name.
For instance, her second signature fragrance was called Billionaire Boyfriend.
7. She once took nine months off of acting.
It was mandatory after the actress had her brain tumor removed. When she got back to work, she hit the ground running.
“I shot a film called Felt that’s just going to Toronto now, I shot Girls Trip, I shot 13 Reasons Why, I did a play in New York,” she told Cosmopolitan .
8. She played Drew Cary’s girlfriend on *The Drew Cary Show*.
While playing Nicki, she had to wear a fat suit. But this never bothered her.
“I was intoxicated with the story line on the show — a woman who worked hard to lose weight then dates this guy who eats,” she told Women’s Health .
It did, however, give her insight to how some overweight people are treated by society.
“I remember going out to eat while wearing the fat suit, and some people stared at me like I was an animal going to the trough. People can be really cruel.”
9. She worked with Sandra Oh before *Grey’s Anatomy*.
She played Sandra’s lesbian girlfriend in Under the Tuscan Sun .
“It was funny, that part came in the middle of a trilogy of lesbian roles for me,” she told Women’s Health .
“I had just played a closeted lesbian suburban wife in an indie movie, and then I played a lesbian detective on Karen Sisco,” she continued.
“Do I give off a girl-on-girl vibe, I wonder? Or is it because I’m tall? I guess the chicks just dig me!”
10. She is divorced.
She had a whirlwind marriage to Alex Young, a co-president of film production at 20th Century Fox.
The pair got married and divorced all within the span of 18 months.
11. She’s open to adopting children.
She’s already adopted pouches, Amiko and Rosie. But when it comes to an actual child, she wants to do it with a partner.
“I never say never with kids, but I want a partner to do it with,” she told Us Weekly .
12. She’s open to returning to *Grey’s Anatomy*.
Grey’s fans, get excited!
In an interview with Pop Culture.com , the actress revealed that she’s opening to coming back “if it’s the right time and the right storyline.”
“I always considered Shondaland my home, and particularly Grey’s,” she said.
“That’s where it was just a big important piece of my life, and I love everyone involved on the show. So, absolutely I would go back if it made sense to everybody involved — yes.”
Last Updated on October 8, 2020 by Sarah Kester
