Truth About Jessica Capshaw AKA Arizona Robbins Leg On ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

Jessica Capshaw is a talented American actress who rose to the limelight for her performances in several movies and TV shows. But, her work in the ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy was the one that helped her rise to the top.

In that television show, she portrayed the role of Dr. Arizona Robbins. Her character was first introduced in the 11th episode titled ‘Wish You Were Here’ of the show’s fifth season, which aired on January 8, 2009.

Although her character of Dr. Robbins was originally intended to appear in three episodes only, Capshaw’s performance forced the show creator Shonda Rhimes’ hands to continue Dr. Robbins’ character arc for several seasons.

Fans of the show last witnessed Capshaw’s portrayal of Dr. Robbins in the 24th episode titled ‘All of Me’ of Grey’s Anatomy‘s 14th season, which premiered on May 17, 2018. During the course of the show, the audience saw Dr. Robbins fall in love, get married, and divorce.

Jessica Capshaw wearing sunglasses on a sunny day (Photo: Instagram)

In season eight, she also got into a horrific plane crash. Thankfully, she survived the crash, but two beloved characters, Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) and Mark Sloan (Eric Dane), didn’t. However, that crash did have a huge impact on Dr. Robbins’ life – she had to lose her leg.

So, the answer to “Did Arizona Robbins lose her leg in real life?” is yes; Capshaw’s character of Dr. Arizona Robbins did lose her leg. As for “how did they make Arizona’s leg look amputated?” green material was used to hide Capshaw’s leg, and it was later edited out in post-production to make it look amputated.

Does Jessica Capshaw have a fake leg?

Capshaw doesn’t have a fake leg in real life. The queries about the actress having a fake leg started after her character in Grey’s Anatomy got into a plane crash and had to lose her leg to stop developing a life-threatening infection in her left leg.

Going more into the topic, Dr. Robbins was initially against the idea of surgeons amputating her leg. But, when her condition became serious, she agreed to it and had to cut off her left leg. After that surgery, Dr. Robbins took some time to come to terms.

Jessica Capshaw’s Dr. Arizona Robbins during the plane crash scene in ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ (Photo: Walt Disney Television)

Finally, in the fourth episode of season nine, she agreed to pay a visit to the hospital and get fitted for a prosthetic leg. As per reports, the Grey’s Anatomy team had hired A Step Ahead Prosthetics to create “realistic-looking, high-heeled transfemoral prosthesis” for Capshaw’s character.

A special prop leg with a harness for a non-amputee was further designed by the medical lab team. It’s reported that the prop leg was made from a cast of Capshaw’s upper thigh and used real prosthetic components.

In the end, the prop leg was covered with silicone skin color to match the actress’ skin tones.

Jessica Capshaw used the fake leg only once in ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

Grey’s Anatomy viewers saw Capshaw’s Dr. Robbins wear a prosthetic leg sometime after her plane crash in season nine until her exit from the show in season 14.

Jessica Capshaw’s Dr. Arizona Robbins’s leg before and after using CGI in ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ (Photo: )

However, they might be surprised to learn that the actress used the fake leg only once in the show. During a Grey’s Anatomy reunion on Stars In The House on January 15, 2021, Capshaw made a special guest appearance.

During that moment, the hosts asked the actress one of the burning questions that fans had regarding her character in the show, which was “What was it like filming with a prosthetic leg?”

In reply, she said, “So, this was a common question. What was confusing was that I wasn’t actually filming with a prosthetic. We only shot with a prosthetic when we shot Arizona without her pants on. I didn’t film with a prosthetic very much.”

As she went on, she mentioned that many of her scenes that showed her amputated leg were done behind a green screen, and the visual teams did CGI on them.

She further mentioned that when she filmed a prosthetic leg, she tied her leg behind her back and then tied a prosthetic leg on.

Several years before mentioning these statements, on March 14, 2014, Capshaw had actually a photo via Twitter and showed how her legs looked before and after using CGI.

Jessica Capshaw is set to return to ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

A familiar face is set to return to the halls of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital as a guest star in the upcoming Season 20 of Grey’s Anatomy.

Capshaw, beloved for her portrayal of Dr. Arizona Robbins in the long-running medical drama, will be making a highly anticipated comeback. Capshaw’s tenure on the show spanned from 2009 to 2018, endearing her to fans throughout her time on the series.

The announcement of Capshaw’s return was made by the network during the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, California, on Saturday.

Alongside Capshaw’s reprisal, the show has also enlisted Alex Landi to revisit his role as Dr. Nico Kim, a previous love interest of Dr. Levi Schmitt.

Additionally, guest stars Natalie Morales from White Collar and Freddy Miyares from DMZ are set to join the cast, adding further intrigue to the upcoming season.

Besides Grey’s Anatomy, Capshaw was part of the movie Dear Zoe, and appeared in a television show Tell me Lies.