One of the Greatest Grey's Anatomy Characters Almost Never Existed

The young, bubbly Arizona Robbins was a long-running character on Grey's Anatomy since the 5th season of the hit medical-drama series after being introduced as a new attending and chief of pediatric surgery.

Her part was meant to be short-term, but her contract was extended as producers wanted to make her easy-to-love character a regular.

Arizona's quirky and kind personality made her a strong favorite among fans and the depiction of her lesbian relationship with fellow female doctor Callie Torres has been praised by critics and viewers from the very start as many shows have previously lacked or avoided representation of LGBTQ relationships.

With Arizona Robbins being such a memorable character on the show and a hit amongst fans, it's hard to believe that her character almost never existed.

The actress who played Arizona, Jessica Capshaw, originally auditioned for the part of Nurse Rose in the series, who would serve as a brief love interest of Derek Shepherd during seasons 4 and 5. The part was ultimately given to Lauren Stamil, who was a better fit for the part, but this was certainly not bad news for Jessica Capshaw.

Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes along with other producers loved Jessica, and although she wasn't cast for the part of Nurse Rose, they wanted to have her on the show and ultimately created the character of Arizona Robbins specifically for her. Shonda Rhimes has always been praised for her vision, and this wasn't the first time she had created a part for an actor.

She did the same for Kevin McKidd who had auditioned previously for a different part and was later called back after the iconic character Owen Hunt had been created for him to play.

Unfortunately, like many other characters over the years, Arizona Robbins is not in the current season of Grey's Anatomy. She hasn't been on the show since the end of season 14. Her character along with fellow doctor April Kepner were both written off the show after the actresses had disagreements with producers over where the show was headed creatively. In the case of Arizona Robbins, she leaves Grey Sloan Memorial to move to New York to be with Callie and their daughter Sofia after the couple decide to reconcile.

Fans of Arizona feel that her time on the show was too short, and are still holding onto hope that she and Callie will one day make a return to the hospital, but for now can look and be grateful that what was originally meant to be a short three episodes written for Arizona Robbins turned into an amazing few years on the series and a positive, impactful female character for fans to remember.