Spoiler alert! This story discusses the January 15 episode of Grey’s Anatomy, “Heavy on Me,” which is available to stream with a Hulu subscription.
While much of the Grey’s Anatomy Season 22 fall finale was focused on Jo Wilson’s harrowing birth story, Richard Webber was going through something pretty serious, too, as we learned he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. We got more of that story in “Heavy on Me,” when Catherine Fox called in a friend for a second opinion. That friend was Dr. Laura Kaplan, who — like Jamie-Lynn Sigler, the actor portraying her — has multiple sclerosis. It was Sigler’s first time playing a character with MS, and she asked one thing of Grey’s Anatomy before agreeing to the guest role.
Jamie-Lynn Sigler — best known as Meadow Soprano from the cast of The Sopranos — returned to television following a three-year break for the Grey’s Anatomy role, which was written for her. She told Deadline that the medical drama reached out to her almost a year ago about portraying a character who had MS, and she told them there was one thing that was very important to her:
My only input was that I wanted to show someone in their power. I didn’t want to show somebody that was needing help per se, or in any medical need. I wanted to show somebody that was living with this diagnosis for some time, accepting of their circumstances, acknowledging the hardships and the reality of what it is to live with a chronic illness but somebody that’s made the adjustments in their life to continue to pursue their dreams and what they love, and they delivered that above and beyond.
It makes sense, then, that Jamie-Lynn Sigler would portray a doctor rather than a patient for her one-episode stint. Renowned urologist Laura was able to alleviate some of Richard’s concerns about the surgery she and Catherine saw as the best course of action. He saw how Laura was able to continue her career post-diagnosis, with some admitted adjustments and ultimately agreed to treatment.
The actress, meanwhile, wasn’t always as open as she is now about having multiple sclerosis. Jamie-Lynn Sigler was diagnosed when she was 20 years old but hid it for 15 years, saying she thought it would end her career. She went public with her MS diagnosis in 2016. That made Laura’s story all the more meaningful for her, as she said:
It was something that really mirrors my own life in many ways, because that’s the road I’m trying to walk down. The first take of saying the words ‘I have MS’ on screen brought me back to a 20-year-old Jamie who was working on The Sopranos, scared for her life that if anybody knew she had this she would never work again. And then here I am on a beautiful set on a beautiful show, having an inspired storyline. It’s a moment I never thought would have been possible.
She said this role also proved the importance of disability representation and that it doesn’t mean stories have to be centered around someone’s disability. In her life, Jamie-Lynn Sigler said she has many roles, “and none of them are defined by MS.”
So will Dr. Laura Kaplan be back to check in on Richard through his cancer journey? It sounds like the door is open, as the actress said:
The last line is, literally, ‘you have my number.’ The people at Grey’s have my number. I think they know how much I enjoyed my time there, and it would, of course, be my honor to come back and play with them anytime.
It was great to see Jamie-Lynn Sigler back on TV, and she carried such an important message about chronic illness for everyone watching, particularly those who — like Richard — might have needed that reassurance. If we don’t see her on Grey’s Anatomy again soon, hopefully she’ll pop up somewhere else.
Grey’s Anatomy airs on the 2026 TV schedule at 10 p.m. Thursdays on ABC, streaming the next day on Hulu.
