Grey’s Anatomy is celebrating 20 years on television this year, as its 22nd season is primed to hit the 2025 TV calendar next month. The anniversary celebration planned for the Emmy Awards may have fallen through, but creator Shonda Rhimes is still looking back at the past couple of decades at what the show has accomplished. Grey’s Anatomy has always been noteworthy for its diverse cast, and Rhimes recalls how she pushed for that to happen.
In the documentary Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television (available to stream with an HBO Max subscription), Shonda Rhimes said when they were auditioning actors back in the early 2000s, she hadn’t written any of the characters’ races into the script, and she was perplexed when only white actors came in to read for roles. She said:
