Grey’s Anatomy’s Alexis Floyd on Simone Hitting ‘Rock Bottom’ (Exclusive)

Simone Griffin (Alexis Floyd) faced struggles at home and on the job on the latest episode of Grey’s Anatomy.

The May 9 episode began with her disoriented grandmother Joyce Ward (Marla Gibbs) mistakenly thinking she was her deceased mother, who died during childbirth at Grey Sloan Memorial. When Simone arrived at the hospital, she treated a Black woman named Lauren, who they realized was in labor at 39 weeks.

However, her delivery did not go to plan. Lauren got a bloody nose, her blood pressure began to skyrocket and she suddenly had a seizure. The doctors then raced to do an emergency c-section to save both the mother and baby but she began hemorrhaging once the baby was removed. She then coded on the table and Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) began CPR. 

As they attempted to save Lauren’s life, Simone saw a flash of her own mother lying on the table, which forced her to step back from the operation. Simone later revealed to Bailey the reason for her reaction in the OR, telling her mother “died at Grey Sloan while giving birth to me.”

“I don’t know all the details but I know someone missed something. I always wondered who those doctors were,” she added. “Now, I know they’re me.” 

“Look at me. Look at me. You did everything you were taught today. Everything that we were taught. This is why we need to be here, why patients like Lauren need surgeons like us to care for them,” Bailey responded, referring to the need for Black people to be the medical profession. “It is our job to make sure that no one falls through the cracks, to make sure that no one overlooks their pain.”

Read on to hear Alexis Floyd’s take on Simone hitting “rock bottom”, her ongoing grieving process and where she stands with Lucas Adams (Niko Terho) in her conversation with PEOPLE.

PEOPLE: How do you think the mental toll of Simone’s mother’s death — and her experience in the OR — will continue to affect her personally as well as professionally?

ALEXIS FLOYD: I think in that moment there’s an awakening that happens where she realizes that she’s not going to be able to practice medicine if she keeps running away from facing some of the grief she still needs to process. I think Simone is someone who moves through the world with a sense of professionalism and wants to be on task all the time. But something that she often hides from others or leaves out of the picture is that the reason she practices medicine is also highly emotional, personal, and I would say traumatic even.

And so what I hope to see from Simone moving forward is that she is a young professional woman who also makes intentional space and time to address this emotional, personal issue, not just because it affects her experience at work. I mean, that’s an extremely personal moment to have at the operating table.

But on top of that, I think it will empower her as a doctor. I think it’ll make her a more empathetic doctor. I think it’ll make her a braver doctor who makes bold choices for her patients. I think it’ll make her an activist in her place of work because she’ll no longer be trying to hide the sort of emotional complexity of what it is to be not just a Black woman physician caring for Black female patients in an industry, in a healthcare system that exorbitantly neglects that class.

Why do you think it’s important to shed light on these pregnancy-related complications in Black women?

Well, first and foremost, for Black women themselves, I think it’s important that we are armed with as much education as possible when we go into this phase of life so that we can make informed and educated decisions. Something I ask myself a lot is I wonder if Simone’s mother would have seeked midwifery care or if that was a more available opportunity for her, just in terms of knowing it exists, but also financially. That’s a different commitment, that’s a different practice, and it’s not available to all families.

Actually in my research for this episode, I also came across this organization called the BirthFUND that I’d really love to highlight. It was founded by Elaine Welteroth, and one of the key founders was also Serena Williams. Her birth story, it was very close to tragic. I mean, she almost lost her life. And we’re talking about one of the greatest athletes in the world. Her pain was ignored, her doctors downplayed the severity of her symptoms, and she almost lost her life.

That just really speaks volumes to the issue, the size of it and the sort of magnitude of it, and that it really is systemic. If it’s happening to Serena Williams, if it’s happening on that level, then we’re talking about a systemic issue.

Now that Bailey knows about Simone’s mother’s death, how will that impact their working relationship and what she’s doing at the hospital?

It’s a sort of beautiful and tricky nuance all at the same time, because I think you’ll see even through the rest of this season and certainly going into next season, that Bailey and Simone have a different sense of trust between them, which is one of, again, the beautiful sort of bloomings that happen when two professionals can, in a safe way, share some of their personal stories about why they do what they do and why it matters to them.

Bailey is Bailey, so she’s always going to maintain a sense of professionalism and authority that is necessary for everyone to do their jobs well and safely. But I think you’ll see that the connection between them is stronger. Even in nonverbal senses, I think you’ll just notice a tether between them. There’s a couple moments, especially towards the finale, where you really see that in action.

But that nuance is tricky of ‘I care for you in a specific way, I see you as a human being,’ but also we are in this setting of work. Especially in a hospital, there is a sort of militant quality to the structure of the place, which again is for safety reasons above all. But I am excited that I think this moment, this turn impacts both of them in a way that reminds them that doctors are people too, and they’re people who need care as well.

Simone has so much on her plate right now with the hospital and navigating her grandmother’s condition. How will she continue to find the balance between her grandma, medicine, and maybe some semblance of a personal life?

I think the first step is just awareness, and that is something that she hasn’t necessarily had to this extent yet. And sometimes it takes rock bottom for you to reach a place where you’re ready to finally make the change. They say when you hit rock bottom, the only place to go from there is up. So I think she maybe has hit a low she wasn’t expecting to, but I hope that it is a breakdown that leads to a breakthrough.

Switching gears, what can you tell me about Simone and Lucas’ future after their split earlier this season?

In my heart, their future, I think they belong together in some capacity. I actually do not know the details of that, but I think that the connection that they have is a pretty unique one. I think the things they have to teach each other are unique and specific to the two of them. So I’m excited for them to figure out how it works. And I imagine that they are not done facing obstacles towards their union, but I do believe on some level that they have a tremendous lot to give one another and to learn from one another. So my hopes for them are high.

Do you think they should be together now or down the road?

I think they still have a few things to learn before they’re ready. It’s that classic thing of you got to love yourself before you can love anybody else, and you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of anybody else. I don’t think it’s necessarily their fault, but just where they are in life, and again, the sort of transient moment of becoming the doctors they want to be, that’s a priority for both of them.

I think it’s a struggle in this moment to find the balance we were talking about earlier that allows for them necessarily to be who they want to be for each other. But I know that they’re both surprised at how much that’s suddenly become a priority in their lives, finding a way to each other. So I know they’ll get there.

What was it like working with Marla Gibbs? 

One of the most magical things about Marla Gibbs, which I mean everything about Marla Gibbs is magical, but she truly dismisses the idea of age in general. I think that this is a woman who wakes up every day, checks in with her body and her soul, and she does what she wants to do. And she also stays learning. Every time she comes to set, she is teaching me something about a food practice that she’s integrating into her life or a workout routine that’s been giving her a surprising amount of energy lately. She recently became vegan, and she’s totally transformed her eating lifestyle. And she’s constantly learning. She’s constantly intaking new information, and she’s always finding a way to laugh.

It is such a testament to what it is about her legacy that is so rich and just continues to grow. I think that she just doesn’t let the stigmas of the industry tell her anything about who she is, the artist she is, and what she’s capable of, and it makes her capable of anything. Besides the gift that it is to work with her as the legend that she is in the industry, the sort of person and spirit and powerhouse of a being that she is has been a very significant gift in my life. 

This interview has been condensed for length and clarity.

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Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.