Jesse Williams is not leaving Grey’s Anatomy, will return for season 16
Speaking via Entertainment Tonight, a representative for the ABC show confirms that Jesse will return for season 16. However, they would not comment before beyond that.
The reason for nervousness regarding Jesse’s future on the ABC show is basically twofold. A part of it obviously is tied to the Broadway gig Take Me Out (read more about that over here), but another part of it simply has to do with what happened to Jackson Avery at the end of season 15. If you recall, the character effectively disappeared into a fog in the closing minutes, leaving Maggie to question where he went. It’s possible that something terrible happened to him, but if nothing else, we certainly don’t imagine that he is going to show up in the premiere episode being a hundred percent okay. This would be kind of an anti-climactic cliffhanger — and totally out of character for this super-dramatic show.
If you missed it, we recorded a video all about the future of Grey’s Anatomy a week or so following the season 15 finale. Check that out below, and after you do that, be sure to subscribe to CarterMatt on YouTube for more updates. We also have a Grey’s Anatomy playlist that is absolutely worth your time.
Because Jesse is not starting off his Broadway commitment until next spring, there are some ways that he could easily take part in both projects. As we suggested recently, one possibility may be that Williams will simply leave the show a few episodes before the end of season 16, and then come back for season 17 on the other side of it. He may have communicated his interests in hitting the Broadway stage to the Grey’s Anatomy production team in advance, who may have been more than fine to accommodate the request. (Because he is a series regular, this is a conversation that likely needed to happen.) Another possibility is just that he banks some footage for the final episodes of season 16 a little bit early, prior to him departing for Broadway. That way, you don’t know that he’s actually gone at all.
Of course, we do recognize the possibility that Jesse could outright leave the show at some point before the Broadway show starts in the spring, but we’re crossing our fingers that is not the case. The fact that he will be back at least in some capacity early on suggests that there is some meaty story still to tell from the world of Jackson. Let’s just hope that it continues in the long-term. We’ll get more information, more than likely, come this September.
What do you want to see from Jackson coming up on Grey’s Anatomy season 16? Be sure to share right now in the comments, and check back soon for some other news. (Photo: ABC.)