Grey's Anatomy Season 20: All Current Series Regulars Reportedly Set To Return
By reaching its 19th season, "Grey's Anatomy" already boasted an impressive feat for its nearly multi-decades run on television. And with its renewal for Season 20 on ABC, it appears fans aren't going to have to say goodbye to the thrilling drama at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital anytime soon. With the onscreen exit of Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) from the series, the cast of long-time series regulars is still slimming down. However, Season 20 of "Grey's Anatomy" will still offer quite a few familiar faces. According to Deadline, some of the show's longtime cast members are slated to return for next season, including James Pickens Jr. and Chandra Wilson, who are now the only two remaining cast members who have been on the show since Season 1.
Deadline further reported that in addition to Pickens and Wilson, Kevin McKidd, Kim Raver, Camilla Luddington, and Caterina Scorsone, who have also become regarded as longtime series regulars, will also return for Season 20. The news of the returning cast should ease some concerns as "Grey's Anatomy" continues to go through a transitional period, with its newer additions from Season 19 and Meg Marinis replacing Krista Vernoff as showrunner. Besides, the door for other fan-favorite character returns isn't completely closed.
Shonda Rhimes has stated the door is open for any past character to appear on Grey's Anatomy
Season 20 looks like it will continue to build on the stories of the show's fresher faces, notably the new batch of interns introduced in Season 19. And by passing on the baton, "Grey's Anatomy" could theoretically continue on television for many more years. But this doesn't necessarily mean fans will see the last of older or longtime characters on the show. For instance, in her Instagram, while expressing her gratitude to fans, Ellen Pompeo noted that we might see her visit "Grey's Anatomy" again.
Show creator Shonda Rhimes also confirmed that not only is Pompeo welcome to reprise her role of Meredith Grey, but other past characters are also welcome to appear again. Rhimes told E! News that "Having Ellen leave was heartbreaking for everybody, but also knowing that she can come back anytime was also important for me to make sure that everybody understood that the door is always open for any of our past characters really."
Considering we've seen the series even bring characters that previously died, we should probably expect that to mean that hardly any character return is off the table.