Well, probably not in reality, but on TV, apparently so. EW’s (for the next few weeks anyway) Michael Ausiello had a fairly surprising interview with the Private Practice actress regarding a major and frequently uncomfortable topic for a TV show to tackle: rape. The Georgia native plays the Southern, sassy and sexually adventurous Dr. Charlotte King on the show. But on an upcoming episode, Charlotte will be forcibly violated by a deranged patient (Buffy’s Nicholas Brendon). The following episode will pick up in the immediate aftermath and feature the incident almost completely from Charlotte’s POV.
Typically, this might be considered a difficult subject for an actress or (gulp) an actor to undertake. But Strickland had this to say about the experience: “I was thrilled. I was so on board. Creator / exec producer Shonda Rhimes said, “We are going to have
Charlotte be raped this season. Are you okay with that?” And my
response was “Hell, yes. Let’s do it. Let’s go. I’m in.” The act will then reportedly have season-long implications for Charlotte and fiance Cooper (Paul Adelstein), who have more than their share os relationship highs and lows.
Strickland was also game for the physicality of the scene, foregoing a stunt double: I wasn’t letting anybody else step into those shoes. I would’ve
been heartbroken if anyone suggested it. We had a great stunt
coordinator, and we gave [Nicholas Brendon] full permission to go for
it. I didn’t want to act around it and play around with it. I wanted to
make it as realistic as possible. The scene airs at the end of the Oct. 28th episode, with the Nov. 4th episode immediately picking up the fallout at the hospital. You can click over to EW for the complete interview.