Jesse Williams is leaving ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ after 11 years
The Lede
Grey Sloan Memorial is losing another good doc. Jesse Williams, the actor who has played plastic surgeon specialist Jackson Avery for 12 seasons on Grey’s Anatomy, is checking out of the series for good this month. And naturally, fans are devastated.
Viewers learned about the character’s exit on the latest episode of the medical drama, “Look Up Child,” during the anticipated “Japril” reunion. The installment marked the return of former series regular Sarah Drew as April Kepner, Jackson’s ex and the mother of his child, Harriet.
Jackson told April he wanted to take over the family foundation in Boston so that he could work to create “racial equity in medicine.” He also wanted her and Harriet to move there with him. Eventually, April agreed, revealing she and Matthew (Justin Bruening) had separated months ago. Now that’s the kind of happy ending and closure Japril fans could only hope for.
According to various trade publications, Williams’ final episode is on May 20, which is also when the next episode, “Tradition,” airs. At that time Avery will resign and say his final goodbyes to his longtime co-workers, including his onscreen mother Dr. Catherine Avery (Debbie Allen).
“I will forever be grateful for the boundless opportunities provided me by Shonda [Rhimes], the network, studio, fellow cast mates, our incredible crew, Krista [Vernoff], Ellen [Pompeo] and Debbie [Allen],” Williams said in a statement.
“As an actor, director and person, I have been obscenely lucky to learn so much from so many and I thank our beautiful fans, who breathe so much energy and appreciation into our shared worlds. The experience and endurance born of creating nearly 300 hours of leading global television is a gift I’ll carry always. I am immensely proud of our work, our impact and to be moving forward with so many tools, opportunities, allies and dear friends.”
Fans who got the episode trending on Twitter when it aired on Thursday night had lots of feelings about the shocking exit.
The current, 17th season of Grey’s Anatomy has been filled with plenty of twists, including the beach-sequence return of former characters like George (T.R. Knight), Lexie (Chyler Leigh) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey), not to mention the brutal death of Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti) who was killed off in March.
Williams’ own exit comes at the end of his most recent, two-year contract. He almost left at the end of season 15, however he returned with a new deal that gave him less screen time so that he could pursue other projects. He was supposed to make his Broadway debut in the revival of Take Me Out (now pushed to 2022), and he’ll star in Amazon’s upcoming feature Marked Man.
Grey’s Anatomy still hasn’t been renewed for an 18th season, however so long as ABC Studios closes deals with the remaining three original leads, Ellen Pompeo, Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr., fans can hopefully expect more drama-filled goodness in the very near future.
Williams first joined Grey’s Anatomy in season six in a recurring role and he was promoted to a series regular the following year. Aside from the three remaining original stars, the only other actor to have been with the show longer is Kevin McKidd, who joined as Dr. Owen Hunt in season five.
In addition to taking on new roles Williams will continue his advocacy work (he is on the board of directors for civil rights group The Advancement Project and an exec producer of the multimedia website and curriculum Question Bridge: Black Males).
He’ll also continue growing his directing career (he has directed three episodes of Grey’s), and is next scheduled to step behind-the-camera in the May 27 episode of Rebel, “Race.”
Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9pET on CTV.
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