The twenty-first season of the American medical drama television series ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

'' was announced on April 2, 2024, and premiered in the United States on the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...

(ABC) on September 26, 2024. Although announced as departing during the season,

Jake Borelli Jake Borelli (born May 13, 1991) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Wolfgang on the Nickelodeon comedy series ''The Thundermans'' (2015–2018) and Dr. Levi Schmitt on the ABC medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2017–2024). Earl ...

and Midori Francis retain their series regular status. Both have been series regulars since the sixteenth and nineteenth seasons, respectively.

Jason George Jason Winston George (born February 9, 1972) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Michael Bourne on the NBC daytime soap opera ''Sunset Beach'', as Jeremiah Thurgood "J.T." Hunter on the UPN television sitcom ''Eve'', as Dr. ...

was repromoted as series regular following the conclusion of ''

Station 19 ''Station 19'' is an American action and procedural drama television series created by Stacy McKee that premiered on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) on March 22, 2018. It is the second spin-off of ''Grey's Anatomy'' (after '' Private Pr ...

''.

Cast and characters

Main

Ellen Pompeo Ellen Kathleen Pompeo (; born November 10, 1969) is an American actress. One of the world's highest-paid actors since 2017, she has made multiple appearances on ''Forbes'' year-end lists. Her accolades include a Screen Actors Guild Award and a ...

as Dr.

Meredith Grey Meredith Grey M.D., F.A.C.S., (born 1977 or 1978) is a fictional and titular character from the medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy'', which airs on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States. The character was c ...

Chandra Wilson Chandra Danette Wilson (born August 27, 1969) is an American actress and director best known for her role as Dr. Miranda Bailey in ''Grey's Anatomy'' since 2005, for which she has been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Su ...

as Dr.

Miranda Bailey Miranda Bailey, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fictional character from the long-running medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'', created by Shonda Rhimes and portrayed by Chandra Wilson since the series' debut in 2005. Bailey has appeared in 387 episodes across ...

* James Pickens Jr. as Dr.

Richard Webber Richard Webber, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.S., is a fictional character from the ABC medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy''. The character was created by Shonda Rhimes and is portrayed by actor James Pickens Jr. since the series' incepti ...

Kevin McKidd Kevin McKidd (born 9 August 1973) is a Scottish actor and television director best known as Dr. Owen Hunt in ''Grey's Anatomy'' and Tommy Mackenzie in Danny Boyle's '' Trainspotting'' (1996). McKidd played Colin in the 2008 film Made of Hono ...

as Dr.

Owen Hunt Major (Ret.) Owen Hunt, Doctor of Medicine, M.D., Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, F.A.C.S., is a fictional character from the medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy'', which airs on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) i ...

Caterina Scorsone Caterina Scorsone is a Canadian actress. She is known for her role as neurosurgeon Dr. Amelia Shepherd on the ABC medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2010–present) and its spin-offs '' Private Practice'' (2010–2013) and ''Station 19'' (2020– ...

as Dr.

Amelia Shepherd Amelia Frances Shepherd, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fictional character from the ABC American television medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy ''and the series '' Private Practice'', portrayed by Caterina Scorsone. Amelia was introduced in Season 3 of ''Privat ...

Camilla Luddington Camilla Anne Luddington (born 15 December 1983) is an English actress, best known for her role as Dr. Jo Wilson in the ABC medical drama series ''Grey's Anatomy''. She is also known for voicing Lara Croft in the ''Tomb Raider'' video games and ...

as Dr. Jo Wilson *

as Dr. Ben Warren *

Kim Raver Kimberly Jayne Raver (born March 15, 1969) is an American actress. She is known for television roles such as Dr. Teddy Altman on American Broadcasting Company, ABC's medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'', Kim Zambrano on ''Third Watch'', and Audrey R ...

as Dr.

Teddy Altman Theodora Grace "Teddy" Altman, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fictional character from the ABC medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy''. The character was created by series producer Shonda Rhimes, and is portrayed by Kim Raver. She was introduced as a recurring cha ...

as Dr.

Levi Schmitt Levi Schmitt, M.D., is a fictional character from the medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy'', which airs on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States. The character is portrayed by Jake Borelli. Levi is introduced a ...

Chris Carmack Chris Carmack (born December 22, 1980) is an American actor, singer, and former fashion model. He is known for his roles in three popular television shows—the teen drama series '' The O.C.'' (2003–2004) as Luke Ward, the country music drama ...

as Dr.

Atticus Lincoln ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

* Anthony Hill as Dr. Winston Ndugu * Alexis Floyd as Dr. Simone Griffith *

Harry Shum Jr. Harry Shum Jr. (born April 28, 1982) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Mike Chang on the Fox television series '' Glee'' (2009–2015), Magnus Bane on the Freeform television series '' Shadowhunters'' (2016–2019), and Dr. ...

as Dr. Benson "Blue" Kwan *

Adelaide Kane Adelaide Victoria Kane (born 9 August 1990) is an Australian actress and model. She first gained recognition for her roles as Lolly Allen in the soap opera ''Neighbours'' and Tenaya 7 (later Tenaya 15) in the children's series ''Power Rangers RP ...

as Dr. Jules Millin * Midori Francis as Dr. Mika Yasuda *

Niko Terho Niko Terho (born February 3, 1996) is a Barbadian-Finnish actor. He made his screen debut playing the title role in the 2020 romantic comedy television film ''The Thing About Harry'' and in 2022 began starring as Dr. Lucas Adams in the ABC medica ...

as Dr. Lucas Adams

Recurring

Debbie Allen Deborah Kaye Allen (born January 16, 1950) is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, singer, director, producer, and a former member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. She has been nominated 20 times for an Emmy Award ...

as Dr. Catherine Fox *

Scott Speedman Robert Scott Speedman (born September 1, 1975) is a Canadian actor and model. He is known for portraying Ben Covington in the coming-of-age drama television series '' Felicity'', Lycan–Vampire hybrid Michael Corvin in the gothic horror–act ...

as Dr. Nick Marsh * Natalie Morales as Dr. Monica Beltran * Jaicy Elliot as Dr. Taryn Helm *

Floriana Lima Floriana Lima is an American actress. She played Maggie Sawyer on The CW's ''Supergirl''. She began playing recurring character Darcy Cooper in season 2 of the ABC drama '' A Million Little Things'', and was promoted to the main cast for season ...

as Nora Young *

Sophia Bush Sophia Anna Bush (born July 8, 1982) is an American actress. She starred as List of One Tree Hill characters#Brooke Davis, Brooke Davis in The WB/The CW, CW drama series ''One Tree Hill (TV series), One Tree Hill'' (2003–2012), and as Erin Li ...

as Dr. Cass Beckman *

Dianne Doan Dianne Doan (born September 8, 1990) is a Canadian actress. She is known for portraying Kora in season 7 of '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' and as the character of Mai Ling in Cinemax's ''Warrior''. Early life Doan was born and raised in Abb ...

as Molly Tran * Michael Thomas Grant as Reverend James *

Piper Perabo Piper Lisa Perabo ( ; born October 31, 1976) is an American actress. Following her breakthrough in the comedy-drama film '' Coyote Ugly'' (2000), she starred in ''Cheaper by the Dozen'' (2003), its sequel '' Cheaper by the Dozen 2'' (2005), '' ...

as Jenna Gatlin

Guest

* Jesse Williams as Dr.

Jackson Avery Jackson Avery, M.D., F.A.C.S., is a fictional character from the ABC medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy''. The character was created by series producer Shonda Rhimes, and is portrayed by Jesse Williams. He was introduced in the season 6 episode "Invas ...

Greg Germann Gregory Andrew Germann ( ; born February 26, 1958) is an American actor who is known for playing Richard Fish on the television series ''Ally McBeal'', which earned him a Screen Actors Guild award. He also is known for his roles as Eric "Rico" M ...

as Dr. Tom Koracick *

Kali Rocha Kali Rocha (born December 5, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for portraying Karen Rooney, the mother of the four Rooney children and the school's vice principal, on the Disney Channel sitcom '' Liv and Maddie''. She also co-wrote four e ...

as Dr. Sydney Heron * Julia Rose as Chloe Yasuda *

Troy Winbush Troy Winbush (born March 12, 1970) is an American actor best known for his recurring role as Denny on ''The Cosby Show.'' Early life Winbush was born in Manhattan, New York to Betty Winbush. He is also the younger brother of Alicia Winbush. C ...

as Darren Riley *

Leonard Wu Leonard Wu is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Orus in the Netflix television drama series ''Marco Polo'' (2016), Shiwei Chen in the drama television series '' Bosch'' (2018), Kinuba in the action film '' Alita: Battle Angel'' (2019 ...

as Eddie Huang *

Lena Waithe Lena Waithe (; born May 17, 1984) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She is the creator of the Showtime drama series '' The Chi'' (2018–present) and the BET comedy series ''Boomerang'' (2019–20) and '' Twenties'' (2020–2 ...

as Dr. Evynn Moore *

Igby Rigney Igby Rigney (born June 6, 2000) is an American actor, born in Ossining, New York. Biography Rigney, originally from Ossining, New York, attended Pace University in New York. In 2018, he made his television debut in an episode of the series ...

as Dr. Scott Marcus * Trevor Jackson

Episodes

Production

Development

On April 2, 2024,

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

renewed the series for a twenty-first season with Meg Marinis returning as

showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...

. On July 9, it was announced that the network had ordered 18 episodes for the season. It premiered in the United States on September 26, 2024.

Casting

Ahead of the twenty-first season, a number of long-term series regulars signed new contracts to return. Among these were two of three original cast members —

and James Pickens Jr. — as well as others, including

, and

. As a cost-cutting measure, the number of episodes each of these series regular is entitled to in their contract, was reduced. To further lower production costs,

who portrays Dr. Levi Schmitt and who joined the show in season 14, was announced to be departing the series. It was also reported that Midori Francis would be leaving the series after two years of portraying Dr. Mika Yasuda to pursue other opportunities. Both Borelli and Francis are set to appear in a limited number of episodes to provide closure to their characters storylines. Series regulars

and James Pickens Jr. were also promoted to co-executive producers. After starring in a reduced capacity across the previous two seasons,

is expected to increase her appearances, appearing in at least seven, but up to a maximum of fourteen, of the seasons episodes as the

titular character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piëce. The title o ...

, Dr.

. Former series regular

is also set to see an increased presence in the season as Grey's love interest, Dr. Nick Marsh. He guest stars in at least five episodes. Speedman was part of the main cast for the eighteenth and nineteenth seasons, but was demoted to the recurring cast ahead of the previous season. Following the conclusion of

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

series ''

'',

returned to ''Grey's Anatomy'' as a series regular to portray Dr. Ben Warren. George first appeared in the series in

season 6 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

and was promoted to the main cast in

season 12 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

. He then left in season 14 to join ''Station 19'' ensemble cast, where he remained for the entirety of that program's run. During this time, George continued to recur on ''Grey's Anatomy''. Michael Thomas Grant was cast in a recurring role to portray an openly gay

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

also reprise her role in three episodes as Dr. Sydney Heron, after a 17-year absence in the series. Rocha originally recurred in eight episodes of the series across the

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

, and fourth seasons.

Filming

On January 8, 2025, it was announced that production was temporarily suspended due to the ongoing wildfires in the

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

region, where the show is filmed.

Reception

Ratings

References

External links

* {{Grey's Anatomy episodes Grey's Anatomy seasons 2024 American television seasons 2025 American television seasons