Alex Kingston's Controversial ER Relationship

Alex Kingston was given a hard lesson in racial prejudice when she first joined the cast of medical drama ER and learned her white character would be dating an African-American doctor.

Kingston's Dr. Elizabeth Corday romanced Eriq La Salle's character Dr. Benton on the show and she admits she had no idea how much fuss the storyline would cause.

As ER's final episodes air, past and present cast members, directors and producers have offered their thoughts and memories about the show as part of a tribute article in U.S. magazine TV Guide.

And Brit Kingston admits her time as a TV doctor wasn't all great.

She says, "Eriq didn’t want Benton’s first good relationship to be with a white woman. He thought that would be putting black women down.

"I absolutely understood it from his perspective, but I didn’t necessarily agree with it.

"Then I was shocked to discover how much prejudice there still was in America."