The doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital have reunited at the2023 Emmy Awards!
Original cast membersKatherine HeiglandJustin Chambers— who left the hit ABC medical drama in 2010 and 2020, respectively — joined former costarsEllen Pompeo,James Pickens Jr.andChandra Wilsononstage at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles to announced the winner for outstanding supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie.
“When the first episode ofGrey’s Anatomyaired in March 2005, I’m not sureShonda Rhimesknew that she had created a show that will have a lasting influence on television and create lifelong friendships,” Pompeo began.
Chandra Wilson, Justin Chambers, Ellen Pompeo, Katherine Heigl and James Pickens at the Emmy Awards.Kevin Winter/Getty
Kevin Winter/Getty
Chambers continued, noting how the show and it’s “400 episodes and counting” have become a “tribute to everyone who is now part of our family.” Though, there have been “some changes over the years,” Heigl added, there was “one thing that had remained a constant” —Grey’s Anatomy’s “incredible fan base.”
Monica Schipper/WireImage
“And that would not be possible without all of you,” Pickens continued, before Heigl introduced the nominees. “So to all of our fans and to all of you — we thank you.”
Justin Chambers and Katherine Heigl on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’.Eric McCandless/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Eric McCandless/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
While speaking with PEOPLE on the red carpet, Heigl called their impending reunion an “odd nostalgic walk down memory lane.”
Though she hasn’t seen Wilson in “15 years” and Chambers in “maybe 10,” the actress explained that her former costars “are people that mean a lot to me.”
“I miss them, so it’s really nice,” she added.
Chandra Wilson, Justin Chambers, Ellen Pompeo, Katherine Heigl and James Pickens at the 2023 Emmy Awards.Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty
Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty
The reunion, meanwhile, comes almost exactly four years after Chambers, who played Dr. Alex Karev on the series, announcedhis exit from the show.
He added, “As I move on fromGrey’s Anatomy, I want to thank the ABC family, Shonda Rimes, original cast membersEllen Pompeo, Chandra Wilson and James Pickens, and the rest of the amazing cast and crew, both past and present, and, of course, the fans for an extraordinary ride.”
Justin Chambers and Katherine Heigl on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’.Michael Desmond/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Michael Desmond/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
“I know there’s a better way to deal with those things than I did,” Heigl, 45, admitted. “I could have handled it with more grace.”
“I don’t actually regret leavingGrey’s Anatomy— I did the right thing for me and for my family — but I do regret the heightened drama I was feeling at that time,” she added. “If I’d known anything about meditation then, or had been talking to a therapist or someone to help me through some of the fear that I was steeped in, I think I would have been more calm in how I approached what boundaries I needed to create to thrive.”
Still, Heigl has fond memories of her time at what was then known as Seattle Grace Hospital, and the actress said she’d “never say never” toreturningto the show.
“When I look back onGrey’s Anatomy, so much of it was a really extraordinary experience,” she says. “It feels like a dream sometimes, all of us in it together like that. I’m grateful for all of it — and I’m so grateful that I grew up enough to allow it to teach me something.”
Ellen Pompeo, James Pickens Jr. and Chandra Wilson on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’.Christopher Willard via Getty
Christopher Willard via Getty
In addition to Heigl, Chambers, Pompeo, Pickens Jr. and Wilson, the original cast ofGrey’s AnatomyincludedPatrick Dempsey,Sandra Oh,T. R. KnightandIsaiah Washington.
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SeePEOPLE’s full coverageof the 75th annual Primetime Emmy Awards as they’re broadcasting live on Fox from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
source: people.com
