Grey's Anatomy star James Pickens Jr. shares the first look at the show's new interns. In the role of Dr. Richard Webber, Pickens has been around since the beginning of the wildly popular Shonda Rhimes medical drama, and over the course of an impressive 400 episodes, he's seen his share of arrivals and departures from the central Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. Grey's Anatomy season 19 looks to be even more significant in that respect.
It was recently announced that lead actress Ellen Pompeo's Meredith Grey has a reduced role in the upcoming season. Though she'll continue to narrate episodes and serve as an executive producer, Pompeo will be turning her focus to an untitled Hulu limited series and reportedly only appear in eight episodes of Grey's Anatomy season 19. But, as has been the case previously, the cast of the longrunning ABC hit will expand to make up for the absence and to keep the stories fresh.
In a new Instagram post, Pickens offers a preview of the fresh faces joining Grey's Anatomy season 19. From left to right, Pickens is pictured alongside Niko Terho, Adelaide Kane, Midori Francis, Harry Shum Jr., and Alexis Floyd. You can see Pickens' post, in which he welcomes the new co-stars, below:
The new additions to the cast each arrive with their own stories. Floyd will play the high-achieving Simone Griffin, who grew up in Seattle and has a painful history with the central hospital. Shum will appear as Daniel “Blue” Kwan, an impatient resident who is generous but competitive to a fault. Francis portrays Mika Yasuda, the middle child of eight siblings who's used to being overlooked, while Kane will play Jules Millin, who feels burdened by being the only adult in her family. And as for Terho, who plays Lucas Adams, he'll be determined to prove his worth as a surgeon.
It remains to be seen how well these new additions work out. Some of them, such as Lucas, bring to mind other characters and their trajectories. Still, more than a lot of other stalwart dramas, the narratives at Grey Sloan Memorial have shown a remarkable ability to renew themselves just when things start to grow stale. And it's possible that, like other past interns, including those that have since become veterans, this new crew will endear themselves to audiences and become part of the group that carries the show forward. It'll be hard to imagine Grey's Anatomy without Pompeo, but come season 19, audiences will get a chance to try it out.
Source: James Pickens Jr./Instagram