In a new documentary Anatomy of Lies, filmmakers are examining the story of disgraced Grey's Anatomy writer Elisabeth Finch, who faked having cancer. Reportedly, Finch would change her appearance and fake symptoms to pull off the elaborate ruse.
She faked cancer for nearly a decade while working on the hit show. Her former co-worker Andy Reaser said he felt overwhelmingly betrayed by Finch. The Grey's Anatomy writer went to great lengths to pretend she was going through chemotherapy. He compared her lies to performance art.
"The thing is, it was so confusing," Reaser said in the clip. "You have to move through eight years of interactions to even wrap your head around it and I'm not even sure that I still fully have."
He added, "She was showing up to work with a shaved head and a, you know, a greenish hue. She looked like she lived in a microwave. She was eating these Saltines and drinking ginger ale and going to the bathroom to take puke breaks from her chemo."
Reaser also said rumors went around that FInch would often sort through the show's medical props.
"For all I know, she had a Lego taped to her chest," he claimed. "It's just so hard to imagine that someone could commit that strongly to that and it seems so much harder to me than just doing your job well."
Finch started working as staff writer on Grey's Anatomy in 2014. Fast forward to 2022, and Vanity Fair exposed her lies. She claimed that she had survived a rare form of bone cancer. Other lies included losing a kidney and part of her leg. The writer also claimed to have been abused on The Vampire Diaries and had a friend who died in the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting.
The show placed her on administrative leave, and she later resigned from the show admitting she never had cancer.
'Grey's Anatomy' Writer Talks Lies
She said that her lies "got bigger and bigger and bigger and got buried deeper and deeper inside me."
She added, "I know it's absolutely wrong what I did. I lied and there's no excuse for it. The best way I can explain it is when you experience a level of trauma, a lot of people adopt a maladaptive coping mechanism."
The actor explained that she altered reality to cope with things. "I lied. That was my coping and my way to feel safe and seen and heard," she added. "I wish I had a grid that would show who's not talking to me because they can't [legally]."
She also said, "Who's not talking to me because they don't know what to say. Who's not talking to me because they're pissed off."
