As Grey’s Anatomy says goodbye to a regular in the series, welcomes an old friend.
Sarah Drew, who played Dr. April Kepner in ABC’s medical drama, will repeat the role in a guest appearance at the end of this season, our sister site Deadline reports. There are still no details on what brings her back to Gray Sloan, or when it can air, but several familiar faces have already returned to the Gray this season through dream sequences on the beach, including Patrick Dempsey as Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd and TR Knight as George O’Malley. (Unlike the two, however, Drew’s character, April, is still alive, so she may actually appear in the flesh.)
Drew’s return comes in the wake of a distaste for Gray fans, with the show killing Giacomo Gianniotti’s character Andrew DeLuca in this week’s episode. (Click here for our updated ranking of the saddest Grey’s Anatomy deaths always.)
Drew left Gray in 2018 after a nine-year stint, along with co-star Jessica Capshaw (Arizona). In the last episode of Drew, April and her boyfriend Matthew were married in an impromptu ceremony, after which she resigned from the hospital to provide medical care to the homeless in Seattle. She and her ex-husband Jackson (played by Jesse Williams) continue to share custody of their daughter Harriet.
From the exit Gray, Drew starred two pilots for CBS – one Cagney and Lacey restart and The republic of sara – but none were chosen for the series. It should also play a recurring role in the next Freeform series Cruel summer.