Grey’s Anatomy is now in its 23rd season on the 2026 TV schedule, down two doctors following Kevin McKidd and Kim Raver’s exits at the end of Season 22. Of course, the long-running ABC medical drama has seen a lot of cast departures over the years, but it never gets any easier. For OG cast members, it can be even harder.
Having been on the show since the very beginning, Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr. have seen it all, literally. They are the only original stars left in the main cast, so they have been through all of the cast changes. For Wilson, it’s hard every time she has to say goodbye, but she always hopes that she’ll be saying hello again in the future. She told People:
I’m always sad when I lose my babies, because to me, they’re all my babies. I keep waiting for the days they come back and play with us.
When it comes to Grey’s Anatomy, while there have been a lot of departures, a lot of characters have also come back to the hospital. Raver, who joined the cast in Season 6, had initially exited after Season 8, before coming back in Season 15 and staying on until the end of Season 22. There have also been a handful of people who have come back in guest or recurring roles since their initial departures, even if their characters died. So it’s not like these goodbyes are always permanent.
That being said, the great thing about Grey’s Anatomy and its longevity is that there are always new characters being added. The new additions always help fill the void, and those are fresh faces that fans can obsess over and relate to. It’s part of the “ebb and flow” of the beloved drama, as Wilson tells it:
You swear that when someone leaves, that’s it, we’re done. And then our new babies come in and then we start investing as an audience, as well as the other characters on the show that then have new people to get used to.
It is always fun to see what new characters grace the halls of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital and how they do in the OR. Still, I can’t imagine coming onto a show over 20 seasons in and joining a cast that’s been around for years. However, just like when new interns join the hospital, the actors get their own kind of training. Wilson shared how it feels when new people are brought on and just how important a part they play in this fan-favorite show:
We definitely feel that sense of how iconic a show we are when we see it through someone else’s eyes and they step in and they’re wondering, ‘What in the world am I gonna contribute and what is this?’ I love being the one to say, ‘You’re here, you made it, so don’t worry about that part anymore.’ Now, you focus on what is it now that you’re gonna add to this beautiful painting that we have.
The beauty of any show that’s been on for a long time is seeing the evolution of the characters and the cast. You never know who will be sticking around for the long haul, and how the show's dynamic could change with newcomers. Since Grey’s is set in a teaching hospital, you also have to expect there to be departures from time to time, with new surgeons being brought in. It may not be easy to say goodbye, but it certainly makes for entertaining storytelling.
Fans can see more of that storytelling in new episodes of Grey’s Anatomy on Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC, streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription.
