Sarah Drew on Reuniting With Jesse Williams for 'Grey's Anatomy' Finale: 'A Wonderful Homecoming' (Exclusive)

The medical drama also celebrates its milestone 400th episode Thursday.

May 26, 2022 - 21:05

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Sarah Drew on Reuniting With Jesse Williams for 'Grey's Anatomy' Finale: 'A Wonderful Homecoming' (Exclusive)

Sarah Drew returns to Grey's Anatomy for Thursday's two-hour season 18 finale, which also marks the long-running medical drama's milestone 400th episode, and she'll be alongside Jesse Williams for the special onscreen reunion. So what brings April and Jackson back to the hallowed halls of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital?

"Jackson is there representing the foundation and I am not entirely clear whether I work for the foundation now or not. But I'm there being a support and there's a lot of upheaval at the hospital, so Jackson is coming to try to sort out how to solve the upheaval and fix some of the issues," Drew told ET's Cassie DiLaura over Zoom.

While the actress remained tight-lipped about where April and Jackson currently stand in their relationship since the last time viewers saw them -- in season 16, mainly to send off Williams -- Drew promised that they "share the screen" together. "You will see Jackson and April in a scene or two together and that's all I can tell you. You'll get a little window into what's going on."

Drew and Williams' Grey's return was confirmed by ET in April. Drew shared that it was "so fun to go back to the hospital" this time around.

"When I returned last year, it was in April's house and I only worked with Jesse and it wasn't with our crew. It was a separate unit doing our [scenes] as a standalone so getting to be on the stages and walk through the hallways with my crew and with the cast, it was so wonderful. It felt like a wonderful homecoming."

She described her Grey's return as pure "happiness." "It was also very surreal because it really did feel like I had just been there yesterday," Drew reminisced. "I'm just playing scenes with Chandra [Wilson] and Kim [Raver] and Kevin [McKidd], and I'm just like, 'Yeah, we were just on set yesterday right?' 'Nope we weren't. No, it's been four years. We all lived four years of our lives from the moment I did a scene with you to this moment right now.' It was very weird because it felt very normal and I guess the biggest measure is our kids are also much bigger."

"You spend nine years in one place with the same group of people, I could have been gone for 15 years and gone back and still felt like it was yesterday," she said. "So yeah, it's such a sweet place and a sweet community. It was just such a gift to get to be asked to come back and ring in the 400th episode with everyone."

With Grey's renewed for a 19th season, Drew acknowledged that she's always open to coming back in any capacity.

"I've always kept the door open," she said. "That's one of my dearest families over there and it's been really fun the last two seasons to go and pop in and visit. I'm not opposed to going and popping in for another visit so it just depends on where the story takes them."

Drew also praised Williams for his Tony-nominated, soul-baring performance in the Broadway revival of Take Me Out, which she recently saw in New York.

"I'm just bursting. It's so, it's just ridiculous the joy of getting to see my friend shine in his Tony-nominated Broadway debut," she exclaimed. "When the news came out I texted him right away. I was like, 'Holy sh**!' And he's like, 'I know!' I almost didn't get a chance to see it because I was super busy shooting this other movie and I'm so glad that I was able to make the trip on my way home from Canada and get to see him. He's amazing and he totally commands the stage. He's been doing theater forever. Then Jesse Tyler Ferguson just absolutely destroyed me. I love him so much, made me laugh and cry and there were waterworks. It was good. And I was by myself sitting alone! So I was just like [sobbing] into my mask."

She credited her friend for the way in which he handled the photo leak that led to the theater installing infrared camera system for the cast's safety and security.

"I've since gone back and looked at the way he responded, it's a play guys, it's a play. And by the way, everybody's nude in the play and you make the choices as the actor to do a play that involves this one thing and there you go, it's there so let's move on. Let's not freak out about it, let's move on," she said. "I didn't walk away from Take Me Out going, 'Oh all those nude boys,' like that's not what you think of when you think of the play. So to make the play about that it's denigrating to the play itself because the play is so much bigger and so much more and that's a piece of storytelling. I think everybody just needs to relax."

But back to Grey's. Ask Drew about the swirling rumors that massive fan Taylor Swift will be appearing in the finale and she stayed mum, only to say, "If Taylor Swift is in the finale she was not on set when I was. So I know nothing. I also heard Miss Piggy made an appearance. Look, it would’ve been great to meet Taylor Swift or Miss Piggy. I would enjoy both those scenarios but alas I did not meet either one on the set of Grey's Anatomy."

The two-hour Grey's Anatomy season finale airs Thursday, May 26 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.