Jessica Capshaw Returning to ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Season 20 as Guest Star

Dr. Arizona Robbins, played by actress Jessica Capshaw, is set to scrub back into Grey’s Anatomy’s Grey Sloan Memorial during season 20.

ABC announced on Saturday, February 10, that Capshaw, 47, would reprise her Grey’s role ahead of its Television Critics Association 2024 Winter presentation. According to The Wrap, Capshaw will return in a guest-starring capacity.

While further details about Arizona’s season 20 arc have been shared, Capshaw seemingly hinted about her excitement to return to the medical drama.

“So much, coming soon,” she wrote via Instagram Story on Saturday, alongside a “Happy New Year” window display celebrating 2024 as the year of the dragon.

Capshaw starred on Grey’s Anatomy from season 5 to season 14, playing pediatric-turned-fetal surgeon Arizona Robbins. Arizona was written off the show in 2018 after she decided to leave Seattle and move to New York with her and ex-wife Callie Torres’ daughter, Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres (Eva Ariel Binder). Callie (Sara Ramirez) had previously relocated to the Big Apple in season 12, when Ramirez, 48, left the show.

Capshaw’s initial Grey’s departure was a result of creative changes.

“Sarah [Drew] and Jessica’s story lines had just run their course, and the decision was made to not renew their contracts,” a source exclusively Us Weekly in March 2018, referring to Drew, 43, whose April Kepner was written off the show at the same time as Arizona.

Drew previously returned to Grey’s Anatomy in the season 18 finale, helping send off TV ex-husband Jesse Williams (Jackson Avery) before his own show exit.

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“I had an absolute ball getting to work with Jesse again. We have such a great working relationship and such a wonderful friendship, and it’s so easy. It’s so easy to act with him,” Drew told Us in April 2021 of their TV reunion. “We just had so many years to pull from. We know how one another works. We know how to support one another in a scene. We know how to talk through something. We know how to be each other’s cheerleaders.”

Grey’s Anatomy season 20 will also see Ellen Pompeo (Meredith Grey) return despite previously stepping back due to other commitments. (Pompeo, 54, has continued to provide voiceovers for the episodes and is still an executive producer on both Grey’s Anatomy and its Station 19 spinoff.)

Alex Landi, who previously recurred as orthopedic surgical fellow Nico Kim, will also make a guest-starring return on season 20, ABC announced on Saturday. Natalie Morales and Freddy Miyares, meanwhile, will make their Grey’s debuts in undisclosed roles.

Grey’s Anatomy season 20 returns to ABC on Thursday, March 14.