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Grey’s Anatomyis facinganother high-profile exitasKelly McCreary’s Dr. Maggie Pierce is bidding farewell to Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
PEOPLE has confirmed that McCreary will appear in her last episode as a series regular on April 13 but will return for additional episodes this season.
The actress, 41, shared her gratitude for the last nine seasons onGrey’sin a heartfelt Instagram post.
She broke down some highlights from her time on the long-running medical drama, writing, “9 seasons, 200 episodes, scores of heroic surgeries, countless brave patients, dozens of delightful sister house scenes, 1 episode with my real-life sister, some loss and some grief, a few ghostly visitations from mothers, a handful of boyfriends, 2 gorgeous weddings, a bunch of drunken emotional breakdowns, 1 high-speed chase, several awkward dinner parties, 1 punch taken (1 punch thrown), at least 1 pratfall, buckets of tears, innumerable fits of laughter, all the medical jargon mastered, a slew of friends for life, myriad collaborators who grew me as an artist, 1 grateful heart and 1 massive THANK YOU. What a ride! 🥹♥️🙏🏾”
McCreary also reflected on playing Maggie Pierce, the half-sister of Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), since becoming a series regular in season 11.
“Playing Maggie Pierce has been one of the true joys of my life and I leave with profound gratitude for every step of this journey. I am excited for this next chapter, and what the future holds.”
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Vernoff, 51, also addressed McCreary’s exit in a statement.
“Kelly McCreary is a writer’s dream come true; brilliant, nuanced, thoughtful, and kind,” she said. “We will deeply miss her and her beautifully crafted Dr. Maggie Pierce.”
McCreary’s departure comes as Maggie and her husband Winston (Anthony Hill) are at odds over prioritizing career over their personal lives on the medical drama after he changed specialties to protect their marriage.
McCreary informed producers of her desire to leaveGrey’s Anatomyto pursue other opportunities and allowed them tocreate a final storylinefor the character in season 19, Deadlinereports.
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McCreary is the latest departure from the ABC drama series.
Pompeostepped back fromGrey’s Anatomythis season to pursue outside projects, includingOrphan, which follows a terrifying adoption story in which a couple’s new daughter turns out to be a grown woman masquerading as a child.
The actress, 53, opened up last December about her reduced role on ABC medical drama.
“I feel super happy, but listen the show has been incredible to me and I’ve loved a lot of the experience,” she shared onThe Drew Barrymore Show. “Listen it’s just I gotta mix it up a little bit. I’m 53, my brain is like scrambled eggs … I gotta do something new or I’m literally gonna turn into, like, [someone who] can’t do theNew York Timescrossword puzzle every single day.”
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Grey’s Anatomyairs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.
source: people.com
