How 13 Actors Returned to TV After Abrupt Shondaland Exits
Fans of the TV shows Shonda Rhimes has created—Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Scandal—and the ones she has produced, including How to Get Away With Murder and Station 19, know not to get too attached to a character. As Shondaland actors decide to leave—or as they are asked to leave—their characters die, disappear, or just drop from the narrative. (And yes, this gallery will have spoilers for already-aired episodes.)
The good news, however, is that Shondaland shows can be springboards for acting careers, so it’s usually not long before we see those actors in other TV projects.
Okieriete Onaodowan, for example, just joined the upcoming season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, according to Deadline. That news comes less than two weeks after the onscreen death of Onaodowan’s Station 19 character, firefighter Dean Miller.
Here’s how other Shondaland alums got back on our TV screens…
Henry Ian Cusick
Shondaland role: Cusick played litigator Stephen Finch on Scandal until the character was written out between the show’s first and second seasons.
TV return: He starred in six seasons of The CW’s sci-fi drama The 100, playing Ark council member Marcus Kane.
Tim Daly
Shondaland role: Daly starred as physician Pete Wilder for the first six seasons of Private Practice before budget cuts forced him out in 2012.
TV return: The actor starred as First Gentleman Henry McCord in the CBS political drama Madam Secretary.
Eric Dane
Shondaland role: Dane played Dr. Mark Sloan across eight seasons of Grey’s Anatomy until the character died at the start of Season 9.
TV return: Dane then led the cast of the TNT action drama The Last Ship, playing Commander Tom Chandler.
Patrick Dempsey
Shondaland role: Dempsey starred on Grey’s as Dr. Derek Shepherd until his character was fatally injured in a car accident midway through Season 15.
TV return: He headlined the Epix mystery miniseries The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, playing the titular murder suspect.
Katie Findlay
Shondaland role: Findlay was one of the regular players of How to Get Away With Murder’s first season, portraying bartender Rebecca Findlay, girlfriend of Wes (Alfred Enoch).
TV return: She starred in the third season of the FXX comedy Man Seeking Woman, playing graphic designer and love interest Lucy.
Katherine Heigl
Shondaland role: Heigl won an Emmy for her role as Dr. Izzie Stevens on Grey’s, a job that ended midway through the show’s sixth season amid Heigl’s fallout with producers.
TV return: She later headlined the 2014 NBC thriller State of Affairs, playing CIA analyst Whitney Tucker.
Martin Henderson
Shondaland role: For two seasons, Henderson played Dr. Riggs on Grey’s, Meredith’s (Ellen Pompeo) first post-McDreamy relationship.
TV return: The actor now stars in the Netflix romantic drama Virgin River, playing bar owner Jack Sheridan.
T.R. Knight
Shondaland role: Knight starred in the first five seasons of Grey’s, playing Dr. George O’Malley, until he grew dissatisfied with the role and stepped away at the end of the show’s fifth season.
TV return: He then had a memorable guest-starring role on the NBC procedural Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, playing twins Brian Smith and Gabe Thomas.
Chyler Leigh
Shondaland role: Leigh starred on Grey’s as Dr. Lexie Grey from the start of Season 4 to the end of Season 8, when her character died in a plane crash.
TV return: Even before Supergirl, Leigh starred on another TV show, the 2015 action-comedy Taxi Brooklyn. She played NYPD Detective Cat Sullivan on the NBC series.
Chris Lowell
Shondaland role: Lowell played receptionist-turned-midwife Dell Parker on Private Practice until the character died of injuries sustained in a car wreck at the end of Season 3.
TV return: The actor starred in the 2014 Fox comedy Enlisted, playing Corporal Derrick Hill.
Sara Ramirez
Shondaland role: Ramirez portrayed Dr. Callie Torres from Season 2 of Grey’s until Season 12, when the doc left Seattle to move to New York City.
TV return: Like Daly, Ramirez made a comeback in Madam Secretary: They played policy advisor Kat Sandoval in Seasons 4 and 5.
Brooke Smith
Shondaland role: Smith played Dr. Erica Hahn on Grey’s from Season 2 to Season 5, when the character disappeared into a parking lot and never returned.
TV return: The actress appeared in 13 episodes of the Showtime drama Ray Donovan, playing nurse Frances.
Isaiah Washington
Shondaland role: Washington starred as Dr. Preston Burke on Grey’s until being let go at the end of Season 3 following a homophobic slur scandal.
TV return: He got back to work almost immediately with an arc on the 2007 NBC reboot of Bionic Woman. He played advisor Antonio Pope on the sci-fi series.
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