'That girl from 'Grey's Anatomy' " has a name -- and soon many people will know it. The name is Elizabeth Reaser, and a year after her Emmy nomination for a guest role as a mentally unstable, disfigured Seattle Grace patient, she's starring in “The Ex List" for CBS.
The 33-year-old actress couldn't have foreseen these events. A seven-episode stint on the highly popular "Grey's" -- during which she managed to develop a playful chemistry with Justin Chambers' Alex despite her character being, at first, a horribly maimed amnesiac -- evolved into a 17-episode run as Alex's on-again/off-again, and finally insane, girlfriend. That led to Reaser being cast as the lead in "The Ex List," a comedic drama about a woman's search for love. It sounds easy, but it comes after many years of toiling on screens big and small, and waiting for the proverbial Hollywood break.
The chance came by way of Israel, where "The Mythological Ex," the original version of the series, was born. Reaser plays Bella Bloom, a San Diego flower shop owner who is told by a psychic that if she doesn't marry within a year, she never will. The catch, the psychic says, is that Bella has already met her husband, so she sets out on a journey to rediscover herself and the men in her past.
As taxing as that sounds for Bella (being single is hard enough!), the series also presents a creative and promotional challenge to the mostly macho CBS, which is in need of a hit and offers romance and lightness only on its sitcoms. "The Ex List" will air on Fridays after “Ghost Whisperer,” the only other CBS drama led by a woman, Jennifer Love Hewitt. It also tests Reaser because -- get this -- according to her, pretending to have a nervous breakdown and a bout with amnesia and reconstructive surgery on "Grey's" was easier than wearing a bikini and hanging out in a kiddie pool.
"I did a film called 'Puccini for Beginners,' which was a romantic comedy, and I always wanted to do more, but I kept doing drama," Reaser said during an interview in July. "It's an easy thing for me tap into. This is more challenging: to work at a different speed, quicker and lighter. It seems easy and fun, but it's more subtle and it's actually harder."
Behind the scenes, and nowhere near San Diego, where the show is filmed, there have been plenty of artistic trials. Creator and show runner Diane Ruggiero unexpectedly resigned Sept. 12 over what CBS President of Entertainment Nina Tassler described in a phone interview as a "simple disagreement about the future direction of the show, particularly as it pertains to Bella."
