Danielle Savre and Stefania Spampinato Remember Their Love Story on Station 19
In Station 19, viewers followed the couple as they faced family traumas, difficult life decisions, and ultimately chose each other. The final season showed them adopting their son, finding a home, and beginning to build their life together. (The series finale even included a time jump with a few more children.) But there was still more to explore. “There was so much more story to tell with Maya and Carina,” Danielle Savre told Entertainment Weekly.
As part of our celebration of Shondaland’s 20th anniversary, EW spoke with Savre and Spampinato about some of the couple’s most memorable moments, the fans’ response to the characters, and the stories they wish Station 19 had been able to tell.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: In the beginning, Maya resists getting into a serious relationship with anyone, but Carina makes her change her mind. I'm curious to know when each of you realized that these characters were “the right person” for each other?
DANIELLE SAVRE: Right away. The first table read was the first day Stefania and I met. We knew it was going to work. I don’t think either of us — I don’t want to speak for you, Stefania — could have imagined how far this relationship on the show would go. But from that moment, we knew it was something special.
STEFANIA SPAMPINATO: Looking back, now we know it was from the very first moment, but I only fully realized it when the episodes started airing. From day one it was great, but there was no way to predict any of this. Then we started to see the fans’ reaction. It wasn’t just our impression that this was good — people felt the same.
EW: I want to jump ahead to the scene where Maya and Carina say “I love you” for the first time. Maya is trying to win her back. What do you remember about filming that scene?
SAVRE: I remember being nervous about filming that day because I’m not usually on Grey’s, and I was working with Kim Raver. I had just cut my hair.
SPAMPINATO: Yes, you had just cut your hair.
SAVRE: I’m remembering all the technical parts — like, we didn’t have much time to shoot that scene.
SPAMPINATO: I remember it happening very quickly. It was one of those scenes that go by in a flash, and we were like, “Was that good? Did it work or not?”
SAVRE: Yes, I remember feeling the exact same way.
EW: Part of the “I love you” scene involves Maya acknowledging her father’s abuse. How do you see the impact of the relationship and Carina’s arrival in Maya’s life in helping her understand her past?
SAVRE: It was love, right? If you look at Shondaland as a whole, most of the characters are searching for love and for finding “their person.” In Maya’s case, she never knew what love was. For her, love was always conditional, and to a certain extent, even in friendships it felt conditional. Carina was the first person to love her unconditionally. And then Maya realized that what she wanted in life and in love wasn’t someone constantly demanding more from her, but someone who accepted her as she was.
SPAMPINATO: Maya resisted Carina’s love at the beginning or at certain moments because, deep down, she didn’t fully accept or love herself. I thought it was beautiful to watch her internal journey until she was able to accept someone else’s love.
EW: You’ve shared many powerful, romantic, and hilarious scenes on Station 19. What has each of you learned about acting from the other?
SPAMPINATO: What stood out to me the most was how committed and generous [Danielle] is as an actor. Some actors, when they’re not on camera, don’t give as much, but Danielle always gave her all, as if she were the one being filmed. That definitely stayed with me. We were always very present with each other, and the ease between us happened very naturally.
SAVRE: You also always gave 110%, even when the camera wasn’t on you. I remember a scene we did together where I walked into the captain’s office. You came up to me and I was crying, but also angry. With every take, you guided me through the scene so I could stay in that emotional place. We truly were a team. Our acting styles were very similar in that way. Also, I learned from you how to relax and enjoy the process. From my point of view, because I started acting as a kid, I always felt — almost like Maya — that I needed to show up with my script fully highlighted, with everything prepared and reviewed. But you have this incredible ability to show up on set, be prepared, give everything, and still be able to let go and have fun between takes.
SPAMPINATO: Thank you. And for me, it was really inspiring to see how precise and committed you are to the lines. Sometimes I felt like I needed to respect the writers more, because they put so much effort into their work. As a foreigner, I’d sometimes end up changing a few things. But watching you, I realized how much these people truly dedicate themselves to creating something amazing.
EW: Their love story has many big moments, but I’m curious if there’s a smaller scene — not one of the major milestones — that you absolutely love?
SAVRE: I remember that scene where you walk into the captain’s office and [Maya’s] mom is there. No one really asks about that scene, but it held so much weight for me.
SPAMPINATO: It was a very important moment for the character as well.
SAVRE: As actors, it was our first big emotional scene together. It was such an intense moment, and we don’t get asked about it very often.
SPAMPINATO: Yes, that one and the panic attack scene. I feel like questions usually focus more on the lighter moments. There’s a scene I rewatched recently because I was putting together my reel. It’s the one where Maya comes home from work and Carina wants to practice for the green card interview. They end up lying on the bed and whispering “I love you” to each other. That wasn’t in the script, but I thought it was so sweet and intimate. I watched it and thought, “Wow, look at these two actresses who are so comfortable with each other.” I felt proud of us.
EW: One of those big moments is their wedding. What memory stands out the most for you from filming that episode?
SPAMPINATO: It was an incredible party because we were in the middle of the pandemic, so the fact that the entire cast was there, celebrating life, made it a really fun episode to shoot.
SAVRE: Yes, that’s exactly how I feel. It was the first time we had such a large group together and were truly celebrating. Everything was done with masks and testing, but it was still fun. We wore face shields the entire time. It was a beautiful scene to film and it’s definitely something I’ll never forget.
EW: I’m curious to know what stood out to you the most in the fans’ response to their relationship, especially from the LGBTQ+ community.
SAVRE: What impacts me the most are the people who say that, by watching Maya come out to her father, they found the courage to come out to their own parents. When I hear that, it’s hard not to get emotional. I didn’t write those scenes — I just played Maya — but I was able to bring to life such a well-written character who resonated with so many people. People who were going through something similar and found the courage to act according to who they truly are.
SPAMPINATO: We also received messages from parents saying, “Thanks to your character, our daughter had the courage to come out to us.” People feeling that, finally, there was a well-represented queer love story worth rooting for. Shondaland has many stories like that, and I feel Maya and Carina were one of them.
The final season showed Maya and Carina adjusting to life as mothers. What was it like for both of you to see them reach that point?
SAVRE: It was beautiful to finally get there, especially because it was such a big part of their relationship. Carina wanted it so much and Maya didn’t at first, and then you see the journey of two people figuring out how to start a family together, especially as a same-sex marriage. I’m glad we were able to do that in the final season and that it was a slow burn. I loved it. It made me really happy. And then the time jump in the finale, seeing that they had a few more kids — that just warmed my heart to see it happen and to be part of it.
SPAMPINATO: I was really excited about that storyline when we first started talking about it, and then over the next three seasons I became less and less excited about it. I feel like the last season was a bit confusing for me. There were so many other things I wish we’d had the chance to talk about, but there just wasn’t enough time. Like Carina talking about sex to teenagers, and the way we talked about ovarian cancer. Clearly we didn’t have enough time to wrap all of that up in 10 episodes. I feel like the way they handled it was perfect given the number of episodes we had. They had to give them a family, and I love the happy ending.
EW: What are some things you wish fans had been able to see Maya and Carina explore in their life together?
SAVRE: There were so many stories left to tell about Maya and Carina. It ended at a point where she no longer wanted to be captain, so I would’ve loved to see how she continued to grow professionally without feeling like she needed to achieve something to feel worthy. I also would’ve loved to keep seeing a woman in a male-dominated field. Maya, Vic, and Andy were incredible women, and I think we explored that quite a bit, but never as much as I would’ve liked. We knew from the flash-forwards that Maya carried one of their children. It would’ve been interesting to show how she balanced pregnancy with her career as a firefighter. That’s something real firefighters deal with: how do you balance work and motherhood? I would’ve loved to see Maya navigating that.
SPAMPINATO: Carina arrived on Grey’s Anatomy with that study on female sexuality, and I would’ve loved to see her almost closing that circle, teaching sex education to young adults. For her to still feel like she was contributing to society, but in a different way, focused on younger people now that she has kids. Also, they say that after seven years, relationships go through a rough patch. It would’ve been really interesting to see their seventh year and how they managed to overcome that.
Source: Entertainment Weekly