“Grey’s Anatomy”'s“ ”Kevin McKidd Says He Got 'Emotional' After Filming His Final Episode: 'It All Washed Over Me' (Exclusive)

McKidd, who starred on the ABC show for 18 seasons, says his the emotional toll of leaving the show hit him during a late-night flight back to Scotland

Warning: This story contains spoilers from the season 22 finale of Grey’s Anatomy.

NEED TO KNOW

• Kevin McKidd says the emotions of leaving Grey’s Anatomy “all washed over” him during a flight to Scotland after filming his final episode
• The actor recalls cast and crew members surprising him on set with speeches, gifts, cake, letters and cards during his emotional final day
• McKidd says he feels like he “graduated from the film school of Grey’s Anatomy” after 18 seasons

After nearly two decades at Grey Sloan Memorial, Kevin McKidd says the emotional weight of leaving Grey’s Anatomy didn’t fully hit him until he boarded a plane home.

Following the season 22 finale on May 7 — which saw McKidd's character Owen Hunt and Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) leave Seattle together after surviving a catastrophic bridge collapse — McKidd tells PEOPLE he finally broke down after filming wrapped and he left Los Angeles for Scotland that same night.

“It all sort of washed over me on that flight back to Scotland,” McKidd says.

The emotional finale centered on a devastating bridge collapse that flooded Grey Sloan with victims and left Owen trapped inside a submerged car while Nick Marsh (Scott Speedman) fought for his life in surgery.

After helping save an entire family during the disaster, Owen ultimately reconciles with Teddy, with the longtime couple deciding to move to Paris together for her work.

McKidd, who joined the ABC drama in 2008 and has directed nearly 45 episodes of the series — including the season 22 finale — says filming his final day on set became deeply emotional for both cast and crew.

“My kids came to set. My partner Danielle [Savre] came to set,” he recalls. “Quite a few cast members who weren’t shooting that day came out to see me because I think people realized it was a big moment. A big pivotal moment for the show.”

The actor says the support from the crew especially affected him.

“We had speeches and there was cake at the end and gifts given and tears shed,” McKidd says. “People gave me letters and cards expressing what their time working with me has been.”

“It really meant a lot to me that people went out of their way to come and spend time with me that day,” he continues.

But there was little time to fully process the goodbye.

McKidd says filming wrapped around 8 p.m. before he immediately headed to LAX and boarded an international flight just three hours later to begin work on Highlander in Scotland and Spain alongside Henry Cavill, Dave Bautista and Russell Crowe.

“I literally left this massive shoot and this ending of this huge chapter of my life and got on a plane,” he says. "It was so emotional for me because I'd been directing this big episode. I don’t think I’d given myself a chance to really feel anything about it all because I was so in the analytical and pragmatic side of my brain being the director." That's when he says, the emotional toll "washed over" him.

The whirlwind transition ultimately became strangely symbolic for the actor. “It sounds like the universe kind of said, ‘Here you go. Here’s your next chapter right here on the doorstep,’ ” McKidd says. “I feel very lucky. Sometimes the universe works in mysterious ways.”

Now, after recently wrapping the film, McKidd says he’s embracing an entirely new phase of his career. “I’m open to both,” he says of acting and directing. “Acting has always been my first love.”

At the same time, the actor says he’s excited to continue expanding his UK-based production company, Ferryman Films, which recently partnered with STV. “We’re moving towards green lights on quite a few projects,” he says.

McKidd also compares the experience of working on Grey’s Anatomy for nearly 20 years to a masterclass in filmmaking.

“I feel like I graduated from the film school of Grey’s Anatomy,” he says. “Now it’s time to go and let all that flourish and see what comes.”

Though Owen Hunt became one of the series’ most polarizing characters over the years, McKidd says he’s proud of where the trauma surgeon ultimately ended up.

“He was never designed to be this cozy, lovely character that everybody adored,” McKidd explains. “He was designed to create debate.”

But underneath Owen’s mistakes and volatility, the actor believes the character always represented something deeper.

“When we meet him, he’s basically a broken, traumatized war veteran,” McKidd says. “The saving of that family [on his final episode] kind of closes the loop of the platoon he lost in Iraq all those years ago.”

“He was able to save his family when he wasn’t able to save his family all those years ago,” he continues. “It healed that wound.”

For McKidd, that ultimately became the core message behind Owen’s ending.

“You can heal,” he says. “You can be traumatized from whatever you’re traumatized from, but you can heal, move forward and have a healthy life.”

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And while his time as a series regular may be ending for now, McKidd says he doesn’t see this as goodbye forever. “This chapter for me next is diversifying,” he says. “But Grey’s Anatomy will always be family.” 

All seasons of Grey's Anatomy are available to stream on Hulu.

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