"Even though Owen has kind of let go of the ghost of Cristina, he emotionally realized that Cristina is not coming back and he made his peace with that," the actor tells THR.

After more than half a season of getting used to Cristina's departure on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, Owen (Kevin McKidd) appears primed to move on from his former flame. Enter Derek's (Patrick Dempsey) younger sister, Amelia (Caterina Scorsone), a Private Practice transplant who has returned full-time to Seattle with her own personal baggage.

After bonding with Owen as Amelia prepped for Dr. Herman's surgery, the duo seem to have an undeniable attraction — as evidenced by their time in the on-call room.

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"It's funny, you can look at Owen and Amelia from two different perspectives: They are both so damaged and have been through so much so maybe they're not so great for each other. But maybe that's the reason why they are great for each other," McKidd tells The Hollywood Reporter. "That's the kind of question we are exploring with them right now."

For Owen, the romance comes as he has struggled with letting go of Cristina (Sandra Oh) and not only accepting the idea of moving on but also possibly finding someone whose baggage is more compatible with his.

"Even though Owen has kind of let go of the ghost of Cristina, he emotionally realized that Cristina is not coming back and he made his peace with that," McKidd says. "It's not so much about the ghost of Christina being on his shoulder anymore; it's about neither of them wanting to waste time going down the wrong path with the wrong person, so they want to make sure it's right."

McKidd believes Amelia's ability to confide in Owen about personal matters — her addiction, for one — helped create a friendship built on intimacy that set the stage for something more.

"This happens a lot in life: through circumstance and certain cases, we see them have each other's backs and share some intimate information about each other to one another," he says. "There's obviously a physical attraction between the two. I think the fact that they shared some really personal things with each other, that's enough of a basis for anyone to go on. That's where they are at the moment: the initial flush of, 'Let's enjoy each other. I don't know if something changed, but it was more a gradual want for each other."

For Amelia, a romance with Owen comes after she opted to go to term with her late fiancée's baby knowing that her son would be born without a brain and she'd donate his organs. Owen would become her first love interest since Ryan, who overdosed.

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"They are also gun shy; they've both had bad times in relationships," McKidd says. "The dynamic between Owen and Amelia is fun to play because she's such a different character than Cristina. I enjoy seeing this side of Owen when he's with Amelia —whether it will last for the long haul, I don't know. I think it could be. We'll see!"

McKidd — who still sees former leading lady Oh (Cristina) regularly — says the duo have talked about the current Grey's storyline with Owen and Amelia. "She loves the fact that Caterina is Canadian, so she approves of that! [But] I think she gets a little protective [of Owen]," McKidd says with a laugh.

But for now, Amelia and Owen's biggest obstacle has been their respective careers, which has been preventing the duo from taking the next step in their budding relationship.

"They keep on wanting to consummate their affections for each other but they keep getting torn away to work," McKidd says. "It's nice for them to have fun for a change because they are quite intense people. But obviously this being Grey's Anatomy, that's going to get complicated really fast because no relationship runs smoothly. One of the complications for them will potentially be when the chips are down and times are hard, they both have got a lot of baggage."

Grey's Anatomy airs on Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com

Twitter: @Snoodit