Grey’s Anatomy is putting a lot of stock into its rookie cast members, as Season 19 marked a new beginning for the ABC hit. Ellen Pompeo is preparing to take a step back from the series, and the writers have taken the opportunity to refocus on the teaching aspect of the hospital, introducing five first-year residents to serve as part of the main cast going forward. Midori Francis joined the Shonda-verse as Mika Yasuda, and while Grey’s fans are excited to see how her character develops on the longtime medical drama, there’s another classic primetime staple Midori’s always wanted to have a part in.
Midori Francis, like so many of us, was a fan of the NBC sitcom Friends, but being the actress that she is, she wasn’t content to merely watch the episodes over and over again in syndication (or with an HBO Max subscription). Rather, Francis thought up a way she could incorporate herself into that world, telling InStyle:
I loved Friends, obviously. And when I was a kid, I always said, ‘They can reboot it, and Ross could have had a secret marriage and a daughter that he didn't know about. And that I'm the daughter.’
It’s actually kind of a genius idea, because nobody would blink an eye if Ross Gellar (who was played by David Schwimmer) was revealed to have had a secret marriage. HIs character had already been married and divorced three times at the end of Friends’ 10-season run, and I’m pretty sure we’re supposed to assume he and Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel would remarry after the series finale. (Unless, of course, they were on a break).
That plot twist on the original series would lend itself to a Friends reimagining that’s more dramatic than comedic (much like the show-within-a-show on Hulu’s Reboot, which you should be watching, if you’re not). I don’t know how serious Midori Francis still is about the idea that she conceived in her youth, but I’m just saying I’d watch it.
Not that I’d want to lose the actress from Grey’s Anatomy. The first episodes of Season 19 are slowly filling in the new characters’ backstories, and Mika Yasuda has already cemented her fun personality within the show. The new surgeon is living out of her van, comes from a family of nine children, and tends to put her foot in her mouth with her dark sense of humor. Which technically sounds like she could be a Friends character already.
Alongside Mika Yasuda, Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital has added Simone Griffith (Alexis Floyd), Blue Kwan (Harry Shum Jr.), Jules Millin (Adelaide Kane) and Lucas Adams (Niko Terho), who was revealed in the season premiere to be the favorite nephew of one Derek Shepherd, aka McDreamy. Lucas’ familial ties to the hospital are something the intern wants to keep hidden from his fellow first-years, to the point that he preferred to let Blue think he was sleeping with Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) rather than admit that she’s his aunt. That's the kind of boneheaded move I might expect more from a sitcom like Friends, but it’s also the beauty of having new and mistake-prone interns on Grey’s Anatomy.
If you want to see Midori Francis and the rest in action, new Season 19 episodes air at 9 p.m. ET Thursdays on ABC, and you can check out what other shows are premiering soon with our 2022 TV schedule.
