Checking in! Many famous faces have visited Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital during its nearly two-decade run — some of which fans may not remember.
While multiple stars appeared on Grey’s Anatomy for long stretches, others had one-episode stints.
Demi Lovato was a very recognizable star when they landed a one-off part on an episode of season 6. Millie Bobby Brown, on the other hand, was relatively unknown when she appeared on the season 11 episode “I Feel the Earth Move.” One year after she appeared on Grey’s, the English actress started her stint as Eleven on Stranger Things.
Other actors had entire story arcs on the ABC drama. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, for example, crushed hearts as Denny beginning on season 2 of the medical drama, which aired in 2006. He ended up starring in 23 episodes as Izzy’s (Katherine Heigl) love interest. He recurred through season 3 and his last appearance was in season 5.
Four seasons later, his real-life wife, Hilarie Burton, appeared on the show in the role of Dr. Lauren Boswell. She even had a quick fling with Dr. Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) during her three-episode arc, which caused a stir for fans of Arizona and Dr. Callie Torres (Sara Ramírez).
“I talked to Jessica after they aired last week’s promo with that big ‘unfaithful’ tag on it and she was like, ‘I’m getting death threats and s—t,’” Burton told HuffPost in May 2013. “I don’t engage in social media, which has its good and bad sides, I guess — but the good side is when people hate my guts, I’m kind of oblivious to it.”
The White Collar alum joked about the responses she got from her loved ones as well when the story line played out.
“Other than the text messages I’ve been getting from my friends from high school … I’ve pretty much stayed out of it,” she explained. “I think it helps me do my job — I can just focus on doing what I need to do, and hopefully, people don’t hunt me down.”
Burton told TVLine that same month that she signed on for the role knowing little about the character she played. Instead, she trusted her longtime friend and casting director Linda Lowy, who previously got Morgan on the series.
“I had no idea what the character was. And then I get the script and I’m like, ‘Oh no, I just walked into a bear trap! People are gonna hate my guts!’” the actress recalled. “So I’m trying to do the flirtation justice. On a personal level, I think Jessica is awesome, so it’s very easy to flirt with her.”
Grey’s Anatomy airs on ABC Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET.
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Scroll down to see more of the celebrities who make cameos on Grey’s Anatomy over the years:
