Rob Lowe turned down Derek Shepherd's role in 'Grey's Anatomy'

Actor Rob Lowe could have played Dr McDreamy in "Grey's Anatomy".

The 55-year-old actor revealed that the now-famous character of Dr Derek Shepherd, played by Patrick Dempsey in the medical drama, was offered to him but he turned it down.

In an interview on WTF with Marc Maron, Lowe was asked whether he had ever turned down an acting project.

"Dude, I turned down Grey's Anatomy. To play McDreamy. That's probably cost me $70 million. Eh, it's just money," he said.

"At the end of the day it was like, I watched it when it came out. And when they started calling the handsome doctor 'McDreamy', I was like, 'Yeah, that's not for me'," Lowe added.

Dempsey played Dr Shepherd from 2005 to 2015. He was married to the main character, Dr Meredith Grey, on the show. His character was killed off in a car accident in 2015.

Lowe has most prominently featured in television shows such as "Brothers & Sisters", "Parks and Recreation" and "The Grinder".