Justin Chambers as Alex Karev
Dr. Alex Karev is a surgical intern at Seattle Grace Hospital. Consistently confident, this doctor doesn't mind taking risks. He is the "outside of the box" thinker and is very self-assured about his judgment. With this type of persona, he is often perceived as cutthroat competitive. He aspired to specialize in plastic surgery, but after working under plastic surgeon, Dr. Mark Sloan, began to have second thoughts about the field.
Alex grew up in a chaotic household. His father, who was a musician with a serious drug problem, frequently abused Alex’s mother. As a result of witnessing the abuse, Alex turned to the sport of wrestling, which he used as an outlet for his anger. His wrestling skills earned him a scholarship to the University of Iowa, where he pursued his education in medicine. Alex’s father left the family after Alex beat him up and sent him to the hospital. This traumatic experience is what made Alex very sympathetic towards young abused patients.
His eagerness to become a great surgeon is obvious, but he tends to become overconfident and often feels he knows much more than everybody else. His apparent disregard for other people’s feelings is what makes his fellow interns distance themselves. Although his honesty is quite admirable, the manner in which he presents the truth is perceived to be rude and arrogant, both by the patients and the resident doctors. His behavior has caused friction between him and several people in the hospital, most especially with fellow intern Dr. Izzie Stevens.
Alex’s and Izzie’s first major fight happened after Alex distributed a picture of Izzie, which was taken from a fashion magazine for which Izzie modeled lingerie. Izzie responded to the act by telling Alex that at least she was out of debt, while Alex was swimming in it. After the incident, Alex realized that he had feelings for Izzie, and proceeded to pursue her successfully. However, when he was told that he had failed his exams, a fact that he tried to hide from the others, the pressure to do better got to him and he ended up sleeping with a nurse named Olivia. When Izzie found out about his infidelity, she immediately broke up with Alex. Seemingly unaffected by the break-up, Alex focused his energy on studying for the next set of exams, and when the other interns found out, each of them decided to help him out, including Izzie.
Other people who Alex got into hot water with were residents Dr. Preston Burke and Dr. Addison Montgomery. When Alex was assisting Burke with a patient who was keeping her illness from her daughter, Alex was quick to criticize the woman for her dishonesty. Burke accosted Alex for his tactless words, but Alex reiterated his opinion in complete defiance. The patient, although offended at first, eventually decided to come clean with her daughter. As for Addison, Alex crossed her tremendously after he gave a patient’s husband information that was told to Addison in confidence. Addison retaliated by keeping him under her radar, but Alex redeemed himself by saving a baby’s life during a fatal operation on the baby’s mother.
Although there was much tension between Alex and the two primary females in his life, he ended up having intimate relations with both of them. Before Izzie started to get serious with her heart patient, Denny Duquette, Alex had resumed a sexual relationship with her. When Alex realized that Izzie was falling for Denny, he tried to get in between them by telling Denny to back off as he didn’t have much of a future to offer Izzie anyway. Denny told Izzie what had happened, and consequently, she broke up with Alex for good. When Denny passed away, Alex swiftly came to her aid and in the process fell in love with her all over again. As for Addison, their brief affair began with a kiss in Joe’s Bar, but afterwards, Alex refused to commit to her.
(Photo courtesy of ABC)