ABC just offered the first look at the season 23 cast of Grey’s Anatomy — but Ellen Pompeo is noticeably missing after booking a new show.
The network shared a set photo on Friday, July 24, that included Chris Carmack, Jen Landon, James Pickens Jr., Debbie Allen, Camilla Luddington, Niko Terho, Caterina Scorsone, Trevor Jackson, Adelaide Kane, Chandra Wilson, Harry Shum Jr., Alexis Floyd, Anthony Hill and Jason George.
Pompeo, 56, however, wasn’t in the group shot as the show picks production back up. The actress is no longer the lead character, so it is likely Meredith Grey (Pompeo) will show up later in the season.
The last time fans saw the fan-favorite character, she had gotten engaged to Nick Marsh (Scott Speedman). The fictional couple live in Boston, however, so Meredith has been in and out of the show since season 19.
Pompeo is also booked and busy after Deadline confirmed in June that she will appear in and executive produce Hulu‘s Chicks. The family comedy drama is based on an original idea from writer Katie Robbins, who developed the concept “specifically” for Pompeo. It was inspired by conversations between the two on the set of their first show together, Hulu’s Good American Family.
“Chicks is set in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods of old Boston. It follows Chickie (Pompeo) and Doreen, two estranged half-sisters who are both struggling to get by when their wise guy dad unexpectedly kicks the bucket,” read the official synopsis. “Their only inheritance is a legacy of two-bit crime that inspires them to run increasingly audacious frauds. As their con grows, so does their odd-couple bond, as they each start to fill the father-shaped hole in the other’s heart.”
Production on Chicks will likely begin in September in New York. News of Pompeo’s next gig comes as ABC viewers await updates on who is — and isn’t — returning for season 23 of Grey’s Anatomy.
Pompeo began playing Meredith in 2005 when Grey’s Anatomy premiered on ABC. After hinting at her exit for years, Pompeo confirmed in September 2022 that she would have a reduced role for season 19.
“I’m going to always be a part of that show,” she told Deadline at the time. “I’m an executive producer. I spent two decades of my career on [Grey’s Anatomy] — it’s my heart and soul. I’ll never truly be gone as long as [it’s] on the air.”
The actress starred in eight episodes that season before exiting the show as a series regular in 2023. “I’m only going to Boston, and you know, I’ll probably be here next week,” Meredith told her friends and coworkers before boarding a plane with her three children.
Grey’s Anatomy recently reduced the minimum guarantees for its veteran cast members to 14 out of the show’s 18 episodes per season. Some fan favorites didn’t appear in as many as four episodes each while Caterina Scorsone‘s absence was doubled after her character, Amelia Shepherd, chose to take a sabbatical.
Kim Raver and Kevin McKidd later exited the show, but it remains unclear whether there will be more characters who won’t return in season 23.
Despite the shakeups, ABC is still committed to the franchise, with the network ordering a spinoff to Grey’s Anatomy, which will be set in rural West Texas. The upcoming series will be cocreated, written and executive produced by Shonda Rhimes and Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Meg Marinis. Pompeo is also executive producing the new offshoot, which will premiere midseason 2027.
