Chandra Wilson Plans to Stay on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Until the End

Sticking round! Chandra Wilson has starred as Dr. Miranda Bailey on Grey’s Anatomy for nearly 20 seasons — and she or he’s happy with her position as a mainstay on the hit sequence.

“I’m difficult myself to [stay until the show ends],” Wilson, 53, solely advised Us Weekly on the 2023 PaleyFest purple carpet on Sunday, April 2. “It’s humorous as a result of although [some of the actors have]  been right here for, like, 13, 14, [seasons], they are saying they nonetheless really feel model new, like they’re just getting started. So we’re very happy with the surroundings that we now have.”

The Station 19 actress shared that whereas she could also be sticking round for good, the ABC medical drama has labored exhausting at “sustaining an environment” so alums of the present know they will always be welcomed back.

“When you’re within the house, you’re within the house,” she advised Us. “We broaden. Individuals can attain out, and do, after which there’s nonetheless a spot to return again to. That could be a sense of delight for us.”

One former castmate who just lately made a return is Kate Walsh’s Addison Montgomery. The Emily in Paris actress, 55, starred on Gray’s for 3 seasons as Derek Shepherd’s (Patrick Dempsey) ex-wife earlier than touchdown her personal spinoff, Private Practice, in 2007. She’s just lately returned to assist out at Gray Sloan Memorial Hospital’s ladies’s clinic — at Bailey’s request — to show OBGYN residents from numerous states who prohibit practices on abortion care.

For Wilson, leaving the door open for characters to return isn’t simply in regards to the actors — it’s in regards to the total integrity of the sequence itself.

“Clearly, our followers care in regards to the tales. So at each likelihood [we try to] honor the relationship [and the stories] that we now have,” she defined.

One story that has been on the middle of Gray’s Anatomy season 19 is that of girls’s reproductive rights following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The medical drama has zeroed in on the battle between pro-life and pro-choice advocates and the ensuing change in abortion entry.

Wilson defined to Us that Gray’s has “at all times been a present in regards to the medication,” and highlighting conversations surrounding healthcare that “get misplaced within the shuffle of politics.”

“[We wanted to] push away all of the crap and produce it all the way down to fundamentals,” she advised Us. “That is the selection between this girl, this physique, that is what’s gonna be proper for her, and her healthcare skilled. … All we are able to do is inform the story.”

Kevin McKidd, who has performed chief of trauma Owen Hunt on the sequence since season 5, echoed Wilson’s statements, telling Us on Sunday that Gray’s Anatomy’s potential to “tackle topics that [other] TV exhibits received’t” is a “testomony” to govt producers Krista Vernoff and Shonda Rhimes.

“The world is so polarized proper now. There’s so many individuals pointing fingers, ‘I’m proper, you’re improper,’” McKidd, 49, shared. “And I think our show really creates an environment where we work together [from] all views to determine how we do that. As a result of that is hurting harmless individuals. And I feel that message must be upfront, not the very last thing that you simply hear. And I feel our present actually does that superbly. So it’s a really aspirational approach of dealing with these massive societal points.”