'Claws'' Judy Reyes Recalls 'Incredible' Time on 'Scrubs', Fracturing Hip Before Filming Musical Episode

Judy Reyes starred on Scrubs as Carla Espinosa from 2001 to 2009

Judy Reyes
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

Scrubs' iconic musical episode remains a standout among the show — and series alum Judy Reyes remembers shooting it like it was yesterday!

Reflecting on the moment, the 54-year-old Claws star — who played RN Carla Espinosa on the comedy — tells PEOPLE exclusively about the major mishap she endured before she was scheduled to film the season 6 episode.

"The day that I had to shoot my scene, I had taken a really bad fall out of my shower and fractured my hip," she recalls. "The first thing that I thought was, 'My song! I'm not going to get to sing my song.' "

Fortunately for Reyes, the show did not go on without her.

"It's a testament to [series creator] Bill Lawrence and the environment and the family relationship that we also forged on that show. I've been extremely blessed," she continues. "[Bill] said, 'Don't worry. We'll shoot it when you heal.' And we did."

The actress adds, "Having nothing to compare it to, I was just blown away. I cried more after that than I did when I fell."

Judy Reyes
Trae Patton/Disney

Scrubs was actually Reyes' first series. Looking back, she describes her experience working on the sitcom as "incredible."

"I just took it for granted that it be like that all the time. But it was fun," she says. "It was a joy to go to work. Of course, it gets exhausting and the commitment to everybody really realizing the joke or the gag, as well as the dramatic emotional learning moments and the complexity of the characters. ... For my first experience, [it] was an incredible one."

Scrubs ran for nine seasons on NBC between 2001 to 2009.

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Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, Donald Faison, Neil Flynn, Ken Jenkins and John C. McGinley also starred in the acclaimed sitcom, which follows a new group of medical students navigating the day-to-day ongoings at Sacred Heart Hospital.

Reyes has continued to find success on television after Scrubs, landing major roles on shows like Devious Maids and Claws, for which she is starring in her fourth and final season.

Saying goodbye to her character, Annalise "Quiet Ann" Zayas, has not been an easy feat for Reyes.

Claws
Alfonso Bresciani

"I can't even tell you what both a relief that is and how inspiring it was to further creating the character — to create something completely different and break the way I've been seen as an actor and just really collapsed into being a character actor with all these other talented people who actually do the same and embrace the same," she says. "So the freedom of being, visually, a completely different person, just kind of really inspired me. That's what I'll miss."

The star adds, "It's not often you get that opportunity. I was so skeptical of even getting a chance to realize this. So, when I actually got the job, I was both nervous and completely excited."

Discussing what's to come on Claws, Reyes says "the allyship" between Quiet Ann and Dean Norris' character, Uncle Daddy, will be one of the "most surprising" storylines fans will witness this season.

"I think people will be having their mouths hang open by something they don't expect," she says. "Because as a result of season 3, Quiet Ann is completely wounded and skeptical. So she goes the other way."

Claws airs Sundays (9 p.m. ET) on TNT.

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