Sarah Drew’s Grey’s Anatomy Exit ‘Felt Mean and Unjust,’ Says She Now Has ‘No Attachment’ to the Show

Sarah Drew is being honest about her departure from Grey’s Anatomy.

In a recent episode of the Call It What It Is podcast with former Grey’s co-stars Camilla Luddington and Jessica Capshaw, Drew opened up about being fired from the long-running medical drama alongside Capshaw. Explaining how after becoming such a staple member of the cast for nine seasons, Drew said leaving in 2018 felt like “being fired from our family.”

“We were unceremoniously let go in a way that felt really mean and unjust,” the actress, whose new Hallmark+ series Mistletoe Murders premieres on Oct. 31, said. “And, because of that, the outpouring of love was so enormous it was like you were sitting there watching people say all the things that they love about you after you’re dead.”

Drew, who plays April Kepner, has since returned to the show for guest appearances, but she said the role doesn’t feel the same as the first time around.

“I have no attachment to it at all,” she shared. “So I think so there’s peace. When you’re on the show, you know, you never know what’s gonna happen. You never know if they’re gonna lose interest in your story line or if you piss off the wrong person, then something’s gonna happen. Like, you don’t know. But when I just popped back in to say hello, it I have zero anxiety, and I don’t need anything from anybody on that set anymore.”

“They’re not responsible for my livelihood anymore,” the star of A Carpenter Christmas Romance, out Dec. 21 on Lifetime, continued. “They’re not responsible for my success or my joy. So it feels very, very freeing to pop back in because I’m like, ‘Hey, this is a fun spot to come visit.’”

Capshaw, whose role as Arizona Robbins was cut from the show at the end of season 14 (at the same time as Drew), then questioned how the Everwood alum first got cast on the series.

“I came on to get fired in the ‘I Saw What I Saw’ episode,” she revealed. “I had just done a pilot with Shonda, and she said, ‘You wanna come play for two episodes?’ In fact — here’s a funny story — I was originally offered the role of the woman that George saved and got hit by a truck, and she had an episode the end of season 5 top of season 6 where you’ve got the ‘double o seven,’ that whole thing.”

Drew revealed she had to decline the initial offer because of a scheduling conflict, and was later given a two-episode arc for April. She went on to be on Supernatural, Glee and Mad Men before her storyline on Grey’s picked back up.

The love between her character, April, and Jesse Williams’ Jackson Avery also ended up being one of the show’s most beloved romances.

When Luddington and Capshaw praised her for being “such a good actor” who was on so many different shows, Drew admitted she didn’t start getting more developed parts until after Grey’s. 

“This is an interesting little take on what our industry does,” she began. “I was just telling somebody else about this before — prior to my character getting with Jesse Williams, I’ve always played awkward, grating, annoying, ugly duckling, not beautiful [characters].”

“I was ugly until my character started dating Jesse, and now I play romantic leads,” she revealed.

In 2018, Drew shared her reaction to being written off Grey’s for the first time in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Admitting that she cried when she got the news, she said she was finding peace in the situation.

“I’m a believer in things happening for a reason and finding beauty in the midst of grief,” she told the outlet. “I don’t regret or begrudge anybody this season of my life. I’m embracing it.”

“I had a profound and incredible season of my life on Grey’s Anatomy,” Drew added. “I got to tell stories I believed in. I got to work with [producers] Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers and learn from the best. I got to work with an incredible community of people that I will have lifelong friendships with. I got to build a platform and have my children in an environment where I was cared for because of who Shonda is and how she takes care of her mamas and her women. It’s hard for me to come up with anything I could be angry about.”

Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC and can be streamed on Hulu the next day.