‘Dirty Dancing’ Star Set To Make Guest Appearance On ‘Grey’s Anatomy’
After the huge success that was the 1987 romantic drama film Dirty Dancing, lead actress Jennifer Grey seemed to all but disappear off the map. While she has had some minor roles, even making a guest appearance in Friends in the 1990s as Rachel’s former best friend Mindy, she hasn’t made any major movies.
Grey has now secured a guest star role on Grey’s Anatomy, according to TVLine. The actress will be making her debut appearance on the show sometime after the Christmas break, but that is about all that has been publicly shared by the show’s producers.
A representative for ABC confirmed Grey’s casting, stating that the actress would be appearing for a multi-episode stint on the popular medical drama for a mid-season arc in the current season. The rep. declined to provide any further details, leaving fans in the dark about who Grey will be portraying or for how long.
One theory is that Grey will be playing the estranged mother of Dr. Jo Karev (played by Camilla Luddington), who fans have not yet met. Jo has a particularly heart-wrenching life story, having spent much of her life in and out of foster care and group homes, and spending much of her teen years living out of her car.
Welcome @jennifergrey to #GreysAnatomy! https://t.co/0HrDInirei
— Grey's Anatomy (@GreysABC) December 13, 2018
Before Season 15 started, Luddington spoke with Michael Ausiello in an interview and confirmed that she had been told there is a “strong possibility” that fans would finally be meeting her character’s parents in this season.
“It’s really exciting. I don’t know the context of how they’ll end up running into each other, but that’s a huge deal for [Jo].”
She also added that her on-screen husband Alex Karev (played by Justin Chambers) would also be seeing more of his family this year.
Given that ABC is refusing to dish on the details, we’ll have to wait and see what Grey will bring to Grey’s, but the wait luckily won’t be too much longer. Following what feels like a rather lengthy production break, the long-running medical show will return to television sets on January 17.
Grey’s stint on the drama series comes nine years after her father, Joel Grey, appeared on the show. He played a very minor role as Izzie Stevens’ (played by Katherine Heigl) former science teacher who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in Season 6. It also won’t be the actress’s first time working with ABC, as Grey appeared on Season 11 of Dancing with the Stars in 2010.
