It’s hard to believe, but “Grey’s Anatomy” is back for its 19th season! The long-running medical drama is shaking things up in a big way as it launches its latest season. Ellen Pompeo will be scaling back her time on the show, meaning her lead character Meredith Grey will only be in eight of the planned 19 episodes for the season, but veteran “Grey’s” character Dr. Jackson Avery (played by Jesse Williams) returns in a major way to help fill the void Pompeo’s absence throughout the season leaves.
Still, “Grey’s” is getting somewhat of a fresh start. At least five new characters are joining the cast as first-year surgical residents (despite the cliffhanger from Season 18 that temporarily shut down the residency program at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital), alongside the show’s established regulars like James Pickens Jr. (Richard), Chandra Wilson (Bailey), Kevin McKidd (Owen), Kim Raver (Teddy), Camilla Luddington (Jo), and more.
Here’s everything we know about the fresh faces who will be walking the familiar halls of Grey Sloan!
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Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery
According to People, Williams is set to reprise his role as Dr. Jackson Avery on the Nov. 3 episode of season 19, “When I Get to the Border,” which he also directed. “I love the family that I have on that show. So that’s always going to be a form of home base for me,” he told the publication. “And I’ll always answer their call.”
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Kate Walsh as Dr. Addison Montgomery
In season 18, Kate Walsh returned to Seattle as Dr. Addison Montgomery briefly to work on a groundbreaking surgery, and she’s back again in season 19 – this time, in a reoccurring role throughout the season, Variety reported.
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Harry Shum Jr. as Daniel "Blue" Kwan
Shum joins the cast as Daniel “Blue” Kwan, one of several new surgical residents arriving at Grey Sloan. His official character bio, as reported by Deadline, describes him as “sharp-witted, impatient and brilliant. He is generous by nature but competitive to a fault, naturally gifted, and used to winning at everything. A family crisis interfered with his career plans, and now he’s got a lot to prove.”
Before joining the “Grey’s” family, Shum’s small-screen roles included talented dancer Mike Chang on “Glee” and warlock Magnus Bane on “Shadowhunters.” He also plays Charlie Wu in the “Crazy Rich Asians” film series, and is set to co-lead a spinoff movie with costar Gemma Chan.
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Adelaide Kane as Jules Millin
Kane, best known for her role as Mary, Queen of Scots, on “Reign,” joins the cast as Jules Millin. Per her official character description, Jules “was raised by drug-addled artist/hippies and somehow emerged as the only real grown-up in the family. Because she always had to take care of herself and her parents, Jules can be a little bossy – but her heart is always in the right place. She’s not afraid to break the rules to save a life, and sometimes it gets her in trouble.” According to a first-look sneak peek posted on the official Twitter, Jules also has a previous connection with Atticus “Link” Lincoln.
Aside from her starring role on “Reign,” Kane also played “wicked stepsister” Ivy on “Once Upon a Time,” and more recently played Rebecca Bowen on “SEAL Team.”
Getty / Matt Petit
Niko Terho as Lucas Adams
Terho plays Lucas Adams, another of the new class of first-year surgical residents. His character description depicts him as “the charming black sheep of his family. Likable to a fault, he has a great mind, but doesn’t have the grades to match. He’s determined to prove himself as a surgeon, just like many in his family that have come before him, but he will have to stop relying on his people skills and put in the work.”
Terho already has one connection to “Grey’s”: he costarred with Jake Borelli (aka Levi Schmitt) in the 2020 rom-com “The Thing About Harry.”
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Alexis Floyd as Simone Griffin
Floyd is also part of the new “class” of residents, playing Simone Griffin. Her character’s backstory is especially intriguing: “A funny, whip-smart, high achiever with a complicated family dynamic. She grew up in Seattle, but never wanted to work at Grey Sloan because of a painful personal history with the hospital.”
Floyd is already part of the Shondaland family, having played “Neff” (a fictionalized version of Neffatari Davis, a concierge at NYC hotel 11 Howard) in “Inventing Anna.” She also appeared on “The Bold Type” as Tia Clayton.
Getty / Dimitrios Kambouris
Midori Francis as Mika Yasuda
Francis, most recently seen as Alicia on “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” makes up the quintet of new surgical residents at the start of the season. She plays Mika Yasuda, who is described as “a middle child with eight siblings [who] is used to “being overlooked and underestimated – and uses it to her advantage. She’s dealing with overwhelming student loans from med school, but she’s scrappy and confident that she can make it in the program and rise to the top.”
You might also recognize Francis from playing idealistic teenager Lily in Netflix’s holiday comedy series “Dash & Lily.”
