How Scott Speedman ended up back on Grey's Anatomy, as a series regular

Deadline

Thursday's Season 18 premiere marked the second year in a row that the Grey's premiere featured the surprise return of a fan favorite, following Patrick Dempsey's McDreamy last year. Speedman reprised his role as transplant surgeon Nick Marsh, teased in the promo as “someone from Meredith’s past comes back." How did Speedman end up returning? "It is timing," he says. "To be totally honest, the last time wasn’t the right time. I haven’t done a show since the last show I did. I think a lot of people love that schedule, and I really do, too, but I was wanting to do other things. But you always know, you put something in the back of your mind when you do have chemistry with somebody, and you do enjoy the work experience, because that’s rare, actually. So, when this opportunity came around, I was trying to think of why not to do it, and I couldn’t come up with any reasons. It was a great show, really fun people, and it just felt the right timing for me. I wanted to jump in, and then, when I heard what the storyline could be, that was exciting to me." Showrunner Krista Vernoff adds: "We reached out to Scott as I was envisioning the show. Actually toward the end of last season, I started saying to Ellen (Pompeo), I’m having this thought, and she was like, ‘Again?’, because I had made that phone call a few times. But this time, we got lucky, he said yes, and we planned the season accordingly."