Grey’s Anatomy Season 20: Which Cast Members Are Back — and Which Aren’t

Grey’s Anatomy Season 20: Which Cast Members Are Back — and Which Aren’t
Grey’s Anatomy Season 20: Which Cast Members Are Back — and Which Aren’t

Regular viewers of Grey’s Anatomy will not be confused in the slightest by the Season 20 cast of the long-running ABC drama. It’s largely a “Hail, hail, the gang’s all here!” scenario. But if you happen to be joining the series late in the game, well, that’s another story.

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Grey’s Anatomy Season 20: Everything We Know, From When It Premieres to Which Cast Members Are Returning

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Trust me, I know. In the fall of 2023, I started my octogenarian dad watching the show and even gave him detailed notes on each character. There were flashcards and quizzes and post-mortem discussions following every episode. But he still insisted on calling Teddy Tiffany. He nicknamed Simone “the runner” because she never seemed to walk anywhere and groaned whenever Mika was on because, in his estimation, she talked way too fast.

Though I did my damnedest to explain to Pops what it meant to be nonbinary like Kai, he elected to avoid pronouns altogether and simply refer to them as “the basketball player” because of how they towered over now-ex-girlfriend Amelia. As if we didn’t know that Dad was overdue for cataract surgery, white female doctors wearing ponytails became interchangeable to him. Jo was Jules was Teddy Tiffany and vice versa.

Pops did especially like one character, though. Yep, elder statesman Richard.

Season 20 of Grey’s Anatomy premieres Thursday, March 14, at 9/8c. Check out the below photos to see Who’s Who among the returning cast as well as which actors won’t be scrubbing in.

Ellen Pompeo

Ellen Pompeo
Ellen Pompeo

The series’ OG leading lady scrubbed out as a series regular in Season 19. But she still does each week’s opening voiceover and continues to recur as the estimable Dr. Meredith Grey.

Chandra Wilson

Chandra Wilson
Chandra Wilson

Another original cast member, Wilson plays Dr. Miranda Bailey, who stepped away from the Chief of Surgery position when she began to realize that the job was so stressful, it was bad for her health.

James Pickens Jr.

James Pickens Jr.
James Pickens Jr.

The last of the show’s three remaining original cast members, Pickens lends his gravitas to the role of recovering alcoholic Dr. Richard Webber, who is as closely associated with the hospital as, well, drama.

Caterina Scorsone

Caterina Scorsone
Caterina Scorsone

Once a regular on Grey’s Anatomy spinoff Private Practice, Scorsone lab-coats up as Neuro Chief Amelia Shepherd, a recovering addict whose brother was Meredith’s late husband, Derek.

Kevin McKidd

Kevin McKidd
Kevin McKidd

A native of Scotland, McKidd puts a passionate spin on Dr. Owen Hunt, a former U.S. Army trauma surgeon with a tendency to turn any room into a battlefield.

Kim Raver

Kim Raver
Kim Raver

The former Third Watch and 24 star plays Chief of Surgery Teddy Altman, who has a daughter, Allison, with husband Owen and is coparenting his gender-curious adopted son, Leo.

Camilla Luddington

Camilla Luddington
Camilla Luddington

The English-born actress regularly transplants her heart into Dr. Jo Wilson, a peds surgeon who survived being abandoned by her birth mother and abused by her now-deceased ex-husband.

Chris Carmack

Chris Carmack
Chris Carmack

Ortho whiz Atticus “Link” Lincoln is only a smooth operator thanks to his portrayer, a veteran of The O.C. and Nashville. The character has a baby, Scout, with ex-girlfriend Amelia and is madly in love with longtime BFF Jo.

Anthony Hill

Anthony Hill
Anthony Hill

Introduced in Season 16 as Dr. Winston Ndugu, Hill has survived his character’s split from his wife/former teacher, Maggie Pierce, to see his character become Grey Sloan’s Cardio Chief.

Jake Borelli

Jake Borelli
Jake Borelli

On screen, this fan favorite is Dr. Levi Schmitt, a scrappy underdog who has overcome his introduction as inept intern “Glasses” to become far more confident and formidable as co-chief resident.

Debbie Allen

Debbie Allen
Debbie Allen

Also an executive producer on the show, Fame’s most famous alum now rules the school as the powerful and wealthy Dr. Catherine Fox, Richard’s better half and, let’s be real, everybody’s better.

Scott Speedman

Scott Speedman
Scott Speedman

The Felicity grad plays Dr. Nick Marsh, who appears to be endgame for Meredith at least insofar as he realizes that she is the sun, and if he wants to stick around, he’d do well to orbit her.

Niko Terho

Niko Terho
Niko Terho

Borelli’s love interest in 2020’s The Thing About Harry TV movie is now Dr. Lucas Adams, the only one of Grey Sloan’s motley crew of new interns to come with enviable family ties: Amelia and Meredith are his aunts. (And yes, that makes him Derek’s McNephew.)

Alexis Floyd

Alexis Floyd
Alexis Floyd

Late of Netflix’s Inventing Anna, Floyd injects adrenaline into Grey’s Anatomy as Dr. Simone Griffith, whose second chance at a residency is threatened by her feelings for impulsive Lucas.

Harry Shum Jr.

Harry Shum Jr.
Harry Shum Jr.

The Glee grad is singing a very different tune as Dr. Benson Kwan, a resident who earned his nickname “Blue” by winning so many ribbons of that color.

Adelaide Kane

Adelaide Kane
Adelaide Kane

Once Mary, Queen of Scots, on The CW’s Reign, Kane has traded her crown for a stethoscope to play intern Dr. Jules Millin, whose heart can’t help but skip a beat around friend-with-benefits Blue.

Midori Francis

Midori Francis
Midori Francis

A Daytime Emmy nominee for her portrayal of Lily in Netflix’s Dash & Lily, Francis transfuses fresh blood into Grey’s Anatomy as Dr. Mika Yasuda, a resident who is as hardworking as she is softhearted.

Natalie Morales

Natalie Morales
Natalie Morales

The Dead to Me vet promises to enliven the hospital as Dr. Monica Beltran, a peds surgeon whose no-nonsense approach to practicing medicine may not go over tremendously well at kooky Grey Sloan.

Jessica Capshaw

Jessica Capshaw
Jessica Capshaw

Absent from the series since Season 14, the much-missed scene stealer returns in Season 20 as Dr. Arizona Robbins, not only Grey Sloan’s former Chief of Pediatric Surgery but a ray of sunshine in a lab coat.

Alex Landi

Alex Landi
Alex Landi

The card-carrying heartthrob, who you may have seen in Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More” video, is making tracks back to Grey’s Anatomy in Season 20 as Dr. Nico Kim, the orthopedic surgeon who left Levi’s heart… fractured.

Jaicy Elliott

Jaicy Elliott
Jaicy Elliott

Introduced in Season 14 as Dr. Taryn Helm, Elliot has seen her role expand to the point that she’s co-chief resident, Levi’s bestie and Mika’s girlfriend. The former bartender also mixes a mean drink.

Juliet Mills

Juliet Mills
Juliet Mills

A television icon owing to her work on Nanny and the Professor and daytime’s Passions (for the entirety of the soap’s run), Mills is Jules’ favorite person in the world, her roommate Max Anderson.

Kate Walsh

Kate Walsh
Kate Walsh

The in-demand leading lady, who headed up Grey’s Anatomy spinoff Private Practice, recurred in Season 19 as Derek’s first wife, Dr. Addison Montgomery. But it doesn’t sound like a repeat performance is in store for Season 20.

Sara Ramirez

Sara Ramirez
Sara Ramirez

Nope. We may get an update on the state of Arizona’s relationship with former wife Dr. Callie Torres when Capshaw passes through Grey’s Anatomy. But her on-screen ex won’t be with her.

Jason George

Jason George
Jason George

The Grey’s Anatomy alum, who crossed over Dr. Ben Warren to spinoff Station 19 upon its premiere, will recur once again on the mothership as Bailey’s three-alarm-fire-hot husband.

Janai Kaylani

Janai Kaylani
Janai Kaylani

When Ben’s fellow firefighter Dean Miller died, his dear friend and his wife Bailey adopted daughter Pru, giving this pint-sized sweetheart a recurring role on not one but two TGIT series.

Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew

Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew
Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew

In seasons past, we’ve caught up with Catherine’s son and former daughter-in-law, Drs. Jackson Avery and April Kepner. But this time around, it doesn’t look like we’ll be visiting with Harriet’s parents.

Kelly McCreary

Kelly McCreary
Kelly McCreary

There’s every chance that we will again see McCreary making rounds as Meredith’s surprise half sister, Maggie. But there’s been no indication that she’ll be reprising her role of Winston’s ex in Season 20.

Marla Gibbs

Marla Gibbs
Marla Gibbs

The legendary veteran actress, who literally everybody knows from The Jeffersons and 227, recurs as Simone’s memory-impaired grandmother, Joyce Ward. Whether in this abbreviated season we’ll see her again remains a question mark.

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