Jessica Capshaw and Sarah Drew to exit Grey’s Anatomy
It’s a shocker! Yes, actors Jessica Capshaw and Sarah Drew are ditching their scrubs at the end of the current season of Grey’s Anatomy.
Capshaw and Drew play Arizona Robbins and April Kepner respectively in the hit medical drama currently in season 14.
Creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes said that the two characters played an important role in representing both “LBGTQ and devout Christian communities”, which had not received the space they deserve on television, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“It’s always hard for me to say goodbye to any of my characters. Both Arizona Robbins and April Kepner are not only beloved but iconic both the LBGTQ and devout Christian communities are underrepresented on TV. I will be forever grateful to both Jessica and Sarah for bringing these characters to life,” Rhimes said in a statement.
Co-showrunner and executive producer Krista Vernoff said that it was a privilege to work with two actors. “The characters of Arizona and April are permanently woven into the fabric of Grey’s Anatomy thanks to the extraordinary work of Jessica Capshaw and Sarah Drew. As writers, our job is to follow the stories where they want to go, and sometimes that means saying goodbye to characters we love,” Vernoff.
Capshaw took to Twitter to respond to the news of her departure from the show, saying it had been a privilege to play Arizona for a decade. “For the past 10 years, I have had the rare privilege of not only playing Arizona Robbins but also being madly in love with playing her...” she wrote.
After the announcement, many implied that Capshaw and Drew’s departures were linked to the main lead Ellen Pompeo’s massive $20 million deal recently. But Vernoff refuted the claims.
For the past 10 years, I have had the rare privilege of not only playing Arizona Robbins but also being madly in love with playing her.
JESSICA CAPSHAW ACTOR