Various former cast members are set to return for Grey’s Anatomy season 21, with some of them entirely unexpected while others’ return was heavily hinted at by their characters’ storylines in the medical drama. Having been on the air since 2005, Grey’s Anatomy lost plenty of its cast members, playing central and secondary characters, through the years. Although Grey’s Anatomy became famous for killing off its characters, not all of them exited the show via a brutal accident, making it possible for them to return. Some already did, as Arizona’s return in season 20 and Addison’s in season 19 proved.
Although previous characters’ exits resulted in them often not returning, even in key moments when they should have been present like Cristina’s absence in the aftermath of Derek’s death, that wasn’t the case for recent ones. Indeed, despite having as exit episodes Grey’s Anatomy season 19, episodes 14 and 15, Maggie returned in season 19’s finale and again in season 20, episode 9. Maggie wasn’t the only character returning, with Meredith doing so in plenty of episodes despite Pompeo having had a reduced role since Grey’s Anatomy season 19, episode 7, opening the doors for others to do the same.
6 Ellen Pompeo As Meredith Grey
MAGIC’s Last Member In Grey’s Anatomy Will Have A More Prominent Role In Season 21
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Ellen Pompeo’s Meredith has often been the heart of Grey’s Anatomy, with the medical drama using her perspective and journey as a doctor to introduce Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital and all those who were part of it. With her surname even being present in the medical drama’s name, it would be impossible to think of Grey’s Anatomy without Meredith Grey. Still, Grey’s Anatomy has long been an ensemble show, making it possible for her role to be reduced and nonetheless return to tell Meredith’s story whenever Pompeo is available to reprise it, even without Meredith being at the show’s center.
Pompeo is set to appear in at least seven episodes in Grey’s Anatomy season 21, upping her participation in season 21 massively after two seasons with a reduced role, essentially putting Meredith’s story back to the forefront. This change also works perfectly with Meredith’s main storyline in Grey’s Anatomy season 20, which saw her pursuing her secret Alzheimer’s research with Grey Sloan Memorial’s discretionary funds despite Catherine forbidding her from doing so in season 20’s premiere.
With Grey’s Anatomy season 20’s finale kickstarting a war between Grey Sloan’s doctors and Catherine Fox, due to their insubordination in general but also in particular, as Teddy and Amelia both knew and participated in Meredith’s study, Meredith’s story will undoubtedly central in Grey’s Anatomy season 21. This makes Pompeo’s return as Meredith particularly interesting to watch, as Grey’s Anatomy season 20’s Alzheimer’s study story pushed Meredith right in the eye of the storm.
5 Scott Speedman As Nick Marsh
Meredith’s Love Interest Will Be In More Episodes Compared To Season 20
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After having first appeared as Meredith’s patient who heavily flirted with her in Grey’s Anatomy season 14, Scott Speedman returned as her love interest Nick Marsh in season 18. Speedman was present in the majority of episodes in Grey’s Anatomy seasons 18 and 19, but he appeared in only four out of 10 episodes in Grey’s Anatomy season 20. However, Speedman is set to reprise his role as Nick Marsh in Grey’s Anatomy season 21, appearing in at least five episodes.
While Nick was presented in Grey’s Anatomy primarily as Meredith’s love interest, with their relationship still being the thing justifying his presence in Seattle and Boston, he became more important and an integral part of Grey Sloan Memorial’s ranks in Grey’s Anatomy season 19. His role as director of the residency program essentially forced Nick to be at the heart of Grey Sloan, interacting with residents, interns, and all key managerial roles within the hospital, even pushing him closer to Owen and Winston, with whom he often collaborated in classes for the interns.
Following Meredith to Boston inevitably terminated Nick’s role at Grey Sloan, but the events of Grey’s Anatomy season 20’s finale hinted that he can be part of season 21 in a meaningful way. Indeed, Meredith’s anger at his decision to get Bailey to the hospital without telling her first highlighted their problems, but Grey’s Anatomy season 20’s finale also included Nick admitting he would follow Meredith everywhere but would prefer to go with her as equal partners. The new stage in their relationship thus hints at more collaboration between them, hopefully making Nick a bigger part of Meredith’s decisions.
4 Jason George As Ben Warren
Station 19’s Firefighter Ben Warren Will Return As Grey Sloan’s Resident
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Having been a part of Grey’s Anatomy since season 6, Jason George quickly became more central to the medical drama’s story due to his character’s romance with Miranda Bailey. Becoming part of Jo’s same class of residents made it possible to explore interesting storylines by juxtaposing Ben’s bond with Miranda, their superior, with his loyalty to his fellow residents, making him a key character of Grey’s Anatomy before his departure from Grey Sloan kickstarted Grey’s Anatomy’s spinoff Station 19, with Ben as the main link between the two shows.
Ben’s career change from surgery resident to firefighter was a major part of both Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19, impacting the first due to Miranda’s anxiety storyline and the second in the way Miranda’s issues with Ben’s new career affected him. Throughout Station 19’s seven seasons, Ben improved in his role and even Miranda became better at handling her fear of losing him, simultaneously becoming part of the big firehouse family. However, Ben’s love for medicine never disappeared, instead making Jason George’s return to Grey’s Anatomy possible with a storyline cleverly introduced over time in Station 19.
Indeed, Ben’s peculiar path informed much of his career as a firefighter, quickly becoming interested in an elite qualification that eventually made it possible for Station 19 to get their own PRT, even involving Grey’s Anatomy characters in the surgeries that could be performed on location thanks to it. Station 19 season 7’s issues with an injury first and his focus on medicine later eventually made Ben Warren’s return to Grey’s Anatomy possible, justifying it in a cyclical way, as Ben made Station 19 possible with his career move to firefighter, before ending the spinoff by returning to Grey’s Anatomy.
3 Kali Rocha As Sydney Heron
Original Grey’s Anatomy Character Comes Back After Being Absent For 17 Years
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First introduced in Grey’s Anatomy season 2, episode 15, Kali Rocha played Sydney Heron in eight episodes over three seasons. Appearing the most in Grey’s Anatomy season 3, Sydney was not too closely related to MAGIC nor Grey’s Anatomy’s other protagonists, but she made an impact with her bubbly personality, which was a departure from Grey’s Anatomy’s key characters', even those beyond the show’s own twisted sisters, Meredith and Cristina. Rocha returning as Sydney for three episodes in Grey’s Anatomy season 21 marks a change for the medical drama, whose characters it brought back were often central ones.
Avoided for her cheeriness, Sydney’s impact was considerable in relation to Cristina Yang, who she called out when Cristina had Burke second-guess Sydney's path with a patient in her OR, and Izzie Stevens, as Sydney was Izzie’s peer counselor after Denny’s death. Sydney’s last appearance in Grey’s Anatomy season 4 was on a date with Derek Shepherd, during one of the off times of Derek and Meredith’s relationship.
It’s unknown what Sydney’s role will be in Grey’s Anatomy season 21, but given her being a resident of Miranda’s same year, the medical drama will undoubtedly bring her back as an attending. With only Webber, Bailey and Meredith as the characters Sydney knows on Grey’s Anatomy season 21, any interaction with them would be entertaining, but especially one with Bailey would be so, given their rivalry for the chief resident position in season 3.
2 Midori Francis As Mika Yasuda
One Of The Show’s New Interns Will Leave Grey’s Anatomy In Season 21
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Being still part of Grey’s Anatomy hardly makes her a former cast member, but Midori Francis will return to the medical drama only to wrap up her character Mika Yasuda’s story in season 21. One of Grey’s Anatomy season 19’s new group of interns, Mika had plenty of impactful stories over Grey’s Anatomy seasons 19 to 20.
From her debts forcing her to get a second job highlighting the terrible pay for interns to her love story with Taryn Helm, Mika shone in the new interns' group, even making some dub Mika Grey’s Anatomy’s Meredith replacement. Grey’s Anatomy season 20 even heavily hinted at a romantic connection between Mika and Jules, which could be a huge storyline given both characters’ centrality.
It's unknown how Grey’s Anatomy will wrap Mika’s character arc in season 21. Mika’s centrality might foretell a sad ending to her story, especially considering how well her life was going in season 20 even taking into consideration her breakup with Taryn. While not much is known about how Mika’s story will conclude in Grey’s Anatomy season 21, at least Midori Francis is confirmed to return for that, hopefully making the ending of her character’s story satisfying and worthy of how beloved and central to Grey’s Anatomy was Mika since her first appearance in season 19.
1 Jake Borelli As Levi Schmitt
Longtime Grey Sloan Resident Will Appear In Season 21 To Wrap His Character Arc
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Jake Borelli’s return also follows a pattern similar to Midori Francis’s, as he is, too, still a cast member of the medical drama technically, but Grey’s Anatomy season 21 will include Levi Schmitt’s exit, having Borelli return only to conclude his character’s story. Borelli first appeared as Levi Schmitt in Grey’s Anatomy season 14, becoming infamous as Glasses among interns and attendings alike because of his glasses falling inside a patient during surgery.
Levi’s storylines often took center stage since Grey’s Anatomy season 14. Among them, his journey as a gay man part of the Jewish community was often tackled, along with his on-and-off romance with Nico. Another big story focused on Levi’s choice to drop out after killing a patient, impacting the residency program as a whole in addition to Levi’s career. Levi’s return to Grey Sloan and his new role as co-chief resident thus makes it particularly interesting to see how Grey’s Anatomy season 21 will choose to manage his exit.
With Grey’s Anatomy season 20 finally introducing Levi choosing a specialty and doing the best he could to obtain a recommendation to make his choice a reality, it’s unclear how Grey’s Anatomy will end his story. Still, the medical drama has the chance to make Grey’s Anatomy season 21 Levi’s swan song, hopefully doing so in a way that does justice to another key character who has been part of the medical drama for several years.
Grey's Anatomy season 21 premieres on Thursday, September 26 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.
