‘ER’ star leaving show by mutual agreement

LONDON — “ER” star Alex Kingston said Friday she’s leaving the hit show because her character’s story lines have come to a natural end, not because the producers think she’s too old.

Radio Times magazine quoted the British actress earlier this month as saying the long-running medical drama was increasingly focused on young characters, “and apparently I, according to the producers and the writers, am part of the old fogeys who are no longer interesting.”

But she told British Broadcasting Corp. television that her comments were taken out of context, and that she was leaving “ER” by mutual agreement.

“There is absolutely no bitterness to my leaving, seriously. And unfortunately I think the press have been misinformed and misinformed the public,” she said. “I’m leaving because my contract has come to its natural end.”

Accusations that the makers of “ER” discriminated against her because of her age were “absolutely not true at all,” said the 41-year-old actress.

“I’m horrified and embarrassed for ‘ER’ because they have no right to be tarnished with the ageism brush because they are absolutely not that at all. We mutually felt that my character’s story lines had run their course, all of the characters that Corday had been involved with have left the show and we agreed that maybe it was time to move on.”

Kingston said she didn’t yet know how “ER” writers would plot her out of the show.

“I don’t think I’ll be killed by a helicopter because that’s happened already” to another character, Dr. Robert Romano, she said. “I think they will hopefully let her live.”