This year marks two decades since Grey’s Anatomy first debuted on our small screens. Creator Shonda Rhimes‘ medical drama premiered to a relatively light fanfare before exploding into a cultural juggernaut thanks to its ensemble cast, high-stakes hospital drama, and emotional stories that zig-zagged with enough flair to put soap operas to shame.
Over Grey‘s 21 seasons, the rotating staff of Grey Sloan Memorial has seen countless patients — and that’s an excellent job opportunity for both up-and-coming actors and familiar names. This series features a roster of impressive guest stars, especially considering how many became household names after their appearances. Here are 10 actors who guest starred on Grey’s Anatomy that you might have forgotten about, ranked.
Grey’s Anatomy
- Release Date
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March 27, 2005
- Network
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ABC
- Directors
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Rob Corn, Kevin McKidd, Debbie Allen, Chandra Wilson, Allison Liddi-Brown, Jeannot Szwarc, Tony Phelan
- Writers
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Shonda Rhimes, Julie Wong, Jen Klein, Tameson Duffy, Meg Marinis
10
Tessa Thompson
Season 2, Episode 26 & 27
One of the first onscreen roles for the Creed trilogy and Thor: Ragnarok actress Tessa Thompson was none other than Grey’s Anatomy circa 2006. Camille Travis, the 17-year-old niece of Seattle Grace’s Chief of Surgery, Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.), is admitted to Grey’s Sloan under rather awkward circumstances. During her prom, Camille falls unconscious while having sex for the first time.
Although initially played for laughs, Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) follows her instincts toward a darker truth — the incident means Camille’s ovarian cancer has returned after three years in remission. Uncertain of what the future holds but determined to provide his niece with the best care, Richard throws a make-up prom for Camille. Thompson’s role is small, all things considered, but she brings teenage determination, longing, and profound sadness to Camille.
9
Neve Campbell
Season 9, Episode 8 & 9
Neve Campbell, the legendary scream queen behind the Scream franchise’s main heroine, Sydney Prescott — not to mention the hit teen dramedy Party of Five — breezes into Grey Sloan Memorial as Lizzle Shepherd, one of Derek’s (Patrick Dempsey) many sisters.
Lizzie’s relationship with a newly pregnant Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) isn’t smooth sailing at first. Despite her marriage to Derek and their adopted child, Meredith hasn’t reached out to Derek’s side of the family. Lizzie, understandably, wants Meredith to make an effort to include her in her brother’s life. The sisters-in-law develop a tentative rapport after Lizzie donates a nerve for Derek’s injured hand and Meredith shares a picture from her ultrasound. Campbell’s presence is immediately intimidating, making Lizzie a dynamic powerhouse of a professional woman.
8
Kyle Chandler
Season 2, Episodes 16 & 17
Right before Kyle Chandler‘s leading performance as Coach Eric Taylor in Friday Night Lights stole our hearts and won an Emmy Award, Chandler guest starred in one of Grey’s most tragic and memorable two-parters — which, considering 21 seasons, is saying something.
When a man with a live bomb inside his body enters the hospital, Meredith’s intervention is the only thing standing between life and death for all of Grey Sloan. Chandler’s Dylan Young, a rough-around-the-edges bomb squad chief, saves Meredith’s life, but the bomb detonates while Dylan is transporting it from the hospital. Chandler’s performance received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, and he returned for a cameo in Season 3 when Meredith has a near-death experience. Looking back on the episode with Entertainment Weekly, Rhimes said that once she cast Chandler, she “didn’t want to explode [Dylan].”
7
Christina Ricci
Season 2, Episodes 16 & 17
Chandler isn’t the only notable guest star and Emmy nominee to emerge from the infamous bomb episodes. Christina Ricci, best known at the time for her roles in Casper, The Addams Family movies, and director Patty Jenkins‘ Monster, plays Hannah Davies, the young paramedic whose hand initially holds the bomb in place. When the terrified, exhausted girl can’t go on, Meredith takes Hannah’s place.
Like Chandler, Ricci’s performance earned her a well-deserved nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series at the 2006 Emmy Awards. It might be easy to judge Hannah for running away, but Ricci’s raw, vulnerable performance reminds viewers that Hannah is just an inexperienced, scared person holding back instant death with her hands.
6
Sarah Paulson
Season 6, Episode 15
Although Sarah Paulson was many years into her career by the time she played a younger version of Meredith’s mother, Ellis Grey, she was just on the cusp of her multiple breakthrough collaborations with Ryan Murphy on his American Horror Story anthology and The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story.
Titled “The Time Warp,” the episode flashes back to the circumstances surrounding Ellis and Richard’s (J. August Richards) affair, and how the relationship fell apart — namely, Ellis’ determination to leave her husband for Richard clashing with Richard’s refusal to divorce his wife, Adele. Paulson’s scenes are almost blink-and-you’ll-miss-it, but her brittle take on Ellis is as memorable a turn as we’ve come to expect from her.
5
Keke Palmer
Season 10, Episode 16
Before starring in Fox’s Scream Queens series and director Jordan Peele‘s Nope, award-winning actress, musician, and comedian Keke Palmer played Sheryll Jeffries, a 17-year-old pregnant woman diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and determined to be part of Cristina Yang’s (Sandra Oh) clinical trial.
Cristina refuses to meet the volunteers or learn their circumstances, instead vetting her participants based just on their physical criteria. That leads Cristina to reject Sheryll without knowing her situation — a young woman facing motherhood all alone. Thankfully, Shane Ross (Gaius Charles) helps Sheryll deliver a healthy baby.
4
Dylan Minnette
Season 4, Episode 5
A decade before he starred as Clay Jensen in Netflix’s drama series 13 Reasons Why, Dylan Minnette was the precocious and chipper Ryan, the son of a cafeteria employee. Ryan was born without an external ear canal structure, meaning he lacks ears but still has his hearing intact.
The boy hunts down Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) and cheekily guilt trips him, as well as the other high-ranking staff, into approving him for free ear construction surgery. Not even Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) can resist his earnest approach — he trick-or-treats for his ears! — or his cheeky smile.
3
Rachel Brosnahan
Season 9, Episode 14
Yes, it’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel herself! Four years before Rachel Brosnahan‘s period dramedy series took the streaming world by storm, Brosnahan played Brian Weston, a transgender man seeking to complete his gender-affirming care at Grey Sloan through top surgery. Brian’s transphobic father resists his son’s transition, while Brian’s girlfriend, Jess, unconditionally supports him.
Although casting Brosnahan, a cis woman, instead of a trans actor is a troublesome and stereotypical choice, her harrowing performance grounds the episode’s empathetic severity and underscores the vital importance of keeping gender-affirming care accessible.
2
Elisabeth Moss
Season 3, Episode 19
Elisabeth Moss sneaked her way onto Grey’s Anatomy in between The West Wing and Mad Men and years before Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Compared to the accolades Moss would later collect, her role as Nina Rogerson in the episode “My Favorite Mistake” is a traditional one-episode arc, but her character shines a light on an under-discussed aspect of health care.
Nina tends to her mother Cathy (Catherine Dent) full-time, living in constant fear of her mother succumbing to her genetic illness. Although Nina would do anything for the mother she adores, she sacrifices much of her life for her caregiver role – and that’s not a future her mother wants for her daughter.
1
Millie Bobby Brown
Season 11, Episode 15
Nothing strange (ahem) to see here, folks — just Stranger Things‘ breakout star Millie Bobby Brown. A sudden earthquake causes dozens of injuries across Seattle, but not everyone affected can make it to the hospital. Ruby (Brown), an 11-year-old girl, is trapped at home with her unconscious mother.
Grey Sloan dispatches emergency rescue services to reach the two, but until then, all Ruby can do is listen to Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) over the phone as he tells her how to intubate her mother. Ruby’s mother survives thanks to both their efforts, and when the two meet face-to-face for the first time, their emotional hug speaks volumes.