Why did Okieriete Onaodowan leave Station 19, role of Dean Miller?

Why did Okieriete Onaodowan leave Station 19 and his role of Dean Miller during tonight’s Grey’s Anatomy crossover? Why kill that character off? Obviously, we’ve got a lot of questions on this subject right now. We’re talking about a big, important character within this world and someone who was there from the very beginning.

The obvious reason for Miller’s death may just be that this is a world where these sort of things happen and characters get killed — we’ve seen it time and time again and in that sense, what we saw tonight is really no exception. Of course, that doesn’t make it any less devastating.

Of course, there may also be reasons behind the scenes. Oak (as he often goes by) is an exceptional stage performer and may have shown some interest in doing other things after so many years on the show. We’ve certainly seen that happen in the past. Doing series television is hard work with long days and difficult hours. That has been exacerbated further this year by doing it during a global pandemic, and we think that we’ve seen a greater number of departures from various shows for that very reason.

Ultimately, the show will go on for Station 19, and we tend to imagine we’ll be seeing more of some other characters to help fill the void left by Dean’s absence.

During tonight’s episode, Oak posted the image below of some of his fellow cast members. The actor also released the following statement (via TVLine) discussing his exit further:

“It’s been a pleasure being Dean … I have Shonda Rhimes, Stacy McKee, Krista Vernoff, Paris Barclay and ABC to thank for allowing me to bring him to life. I am grateful I got to work with the most loving, kind and dedicated crew in network TV.

“And most importantly, thanks to the fans for showing Dean so much love. I hope he has inspired you to change your world for the better. Be the change!”

Deadline also confirmed tonight that it was the actor’s decision to leave; he approached the producers about an exit last season, and agreed to come back to tie up his character in season 5.

Related – Be sure to get some more news on Station 19 right now

Are you rocked by Miller’s death on tonight’s Station 19?

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