Jason George’s Station 19 shift may be over, but his work as Ben Warren is far from done.
George will return to Grey’s Anatomy, where his character originated, for the upcoming Season 21, TVLine has confirmed. Our sister site Deadline first reported the news
His return, as a series regular no less, seems to fly in the face of a mid-May report that the long-running medical drama has been tasked with trimming its budget in par by dialing down the number of episodes in which actors are guaranteed to appear. TVLine recently asked Disney Television Group chief Craig Erwich if Grey‘s might look a bit different next season given such rumblings, but he deferred, saying: “Look, we just celebrated the 20th season, it’s the longest running medical drama on television, and the show is firing on all cylinders creatively. I’m looking forward to next season.”
George’s Ben first showed up on Grey’s Anatomy in Season 6 as an anesthesiologist. He later became a series regular in Season 12 — and Ben eventually decided he wanted to be a firefighter — and George stayed a regular through Season 14 before leaving the medical drama for its spinoff, Station 19.
He played Ben on Station 19 for seven seasons but, because his character is married to Grey’s Dr. Miranda Bailey, he frequently guest-starred on the medical drama during that time.
Earlier this year, news broke that Jake Borelli (who played Grey’s Dr. Levi Schmitt for seven seasons) and Midori Francis (who played Dr. Mika Yasuda for two seasons) both would exit ahead of Season 21.