Does Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams’ Broadway gig impact Jackson’s future?
Williams is officially set to play the lead role of Darren Lemmin in the upcoming revival of Take Me Out. This play via Richard Greenberg first surfaced back in 2002 and won a Tony Award shortly after. This time around, it will begin previews on April 2, 2020 under the direction of Scott Ellis and actually start regular performances on April 23.
Obviously, we don’t have to say how incredible this is for Jesse as a performer — for many actors, it’s a longtime dream to be able to do a run on Broadway, especially in a role that’s so different from what they are used to. Williams has been a part of Grey’s Anatomy as Dr. Jackson Avery since 2009, and has appeared in well over 200 episodes. He’s also become a director in more recent years and found some ways to stretch some of his talents.
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The question that you now have to wonder here is simply this: Is this role evidence that Jesse is leaving Grey’s Anatomy after being a part of the show for so many years? It’s certainly valid to start asking those questions at this point, but we think it’s also best to not jump to any conclusions — even if the end of season 15 did raise some serious questions regarding Jackson’s future. Jesse would need to be available to do his play at some point in the spring, most likely, which would mean that he would probably miss the final episodes of season 16. We do think that there’s a way that he can do both, but it would probably require him to just have prior permission from show producers — they could also bank a little bit of footage early on, sort of a reverse of what Melissa Benoist did when she took time away from Supergirl for Broadway last year. (In her case, she arrived late and made up for lost time when she turned up.)
There’s no official word as of yet on Williams’ Grey’s Anatomy future, but there are two more seasons officially set of the series itself. Hopefully, there will be some more tangible news on the future of the Jackson character before too long. We personally do think that there is more story to tell with this character, and it would be probably the saddest form of irony ever if Jackson ends up dying early on in season 16 given how much his mother Catherine has been working in order to fight for her own life.
Want to get some other Grey’s Anatomy discussion?
Then check out what we’re saying over at the link here, as we share some of our early expectations for Meredith’s story moving forward into season 16.
What do you think about Williams landing a Broadway gig? Be sure to share now in the comments. (Photo: ABC.)