10 Longest-Serving ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Stars — Bokhee Included!
Grey’s Anatomy has been on TV for so long that even an actor who made her first appearance in Season 9, Camilla Luddington, has already been on the show for more than 250 episodes now. And Bokhee An, the fan-favorite background player who turned her real-life nursing job into a fictional one, has appeared in even more!
Meanwhile, now that Ellen Pompeo has taken a step back from regular appearances, her episode count has been surpassed by two other Grey’s Anatomy OGs.
Ahead of the ABC drama’s return on March 14, scroll down to see the Grey’s stars who currently have the highest episode tallies, according to IMDb.
Grey’s Anatomy, Season 20 Premiere, Thursday, March 14, 9/8c, ABC
10. Sara Ramirez (Dr. Callie Torres): 241 episodes
Ramirez told Glamour in 2021 that they’d “absolutely” consider returning to Grey’s, adding, “I love my Grey’s Anatomy family. I’m so proud of them for introducing trans characters and nonbinary characters. It’s a beautiful universe that they’ve created over there, and I’m so grateful that I got to be a part of it.”
9. Patrick Dempsey (Dr. Derek Shepherd): 251 episodes
Dempsey observed to People in 2021 that “one of the greatest legacies” about Grey’s Anatomy is that “there are so many young doctors now in the world that were inspired by the show,” adding that he’s “very proud” of that trend.
8. Camilla Luddington (Dr. Jo Wilson): 252 episodes
Luddington said on Good Morning America in 2022 that it’s “super special” to be on a show that has cultivated a cross-generational fandom. “I have always called it a unicorn, because it will never, ever happen again,” she added. “I mean, it just doesn’t happen.”
7. Bokhee An (Nurse Bokhee): 265 episodes
An worked as a real-life scrub nurse for 56 years before retiring, as Bustle reported in 2022, but she continues the job onscreen on Grey’s. “I love working on the show, but for me, it isn’t work,” An, who has nearly 600k Instagram followers, told Bustle. “I get to continue seeing my work family on Grey’s and hope to stay on the show for many years.”
6. Jesse Williams (Dr. Jackson Avery): 276 episodes
Williams explained to HollywoodLife in 2021 that he no longer ventured guesses about when Grey’s Anatomy will end. “There is no stopping that monster until it feels like it,” he said. “Shows just don’t last that long. They don’t have the material and the foundation to build on like the one that [Grey’s has], so I’ve got too much respect for the engine to guess it.”
5. Kevin McKidd (Dr. Owen Hunt): 346 episodes
“When I started on the show in Season 5 … people then were going, ‘I think we’ve got one more season. What do you think?’” McKidd told People this January, crediting the show’s success to the quality of the writing. “Most actors, if you get on a show for five years, you’re lucky.”
4. Justin Chambers (Dr. Alex Karev): 358 episodes
In a statement to People upon his Grey’s Anatomy exit in 2020, Chambers waxed nostalgic about “a show and character that’s defined so much of [his] life for the past 15 years” and gave shout-outs to ABC, his Grey’s colleagues, and fans for “an extraordinary ride.”
3. Ellen Pompeo (Dr. Meredith Grey): 420 episodes
The actor behind Grey’s Anatomy’s namesake has a reduced presence on the show these days but isn’t saying goodbye. “I’m gonna always be a part of that show,” she told Deadline in 2022. “I’m an exec producer on that show, I’ve spent two decades of my career on that show, it’s my heart and soul, and I’ll never truly be gone as long as that show’s on the air.”
1. James Pickens Jr. (Dr. Richard Webber): 426 episodes — tie
Both Pickens and Chandra Wilson, below, have been series regulars since day one. “I can’t put a number on how many people — especially young people — have come up to me and said, ‘Because of your show, I’m now in a medical profession. I’ve become a doctor. I’m in med school.’ I can’t count how many,” Pickens told On the Red Carpet in 2022.
1. Chandra Wilson (Dr. Miranda Bailey): 426 episodes — tie
“I used to say, ‘I’m there until the wheels fall off, until the very, very end, and it can’t last that much longer, right?’ And then we keep going,” Wilson said to People in 2023. “For now, I’m challenging myself to be there until the very last episode, the very last day, the very last scene. I said it, so now I’ve got to get there.”
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