It’s been more than seven years since Martin Henderson left ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy after two seasons as a series regular, playing Dr. Nathan Riggs. While the venerable medical drama is known for bringing back cast members, Henderson is one of few who have never been back.
During an interview about Season 6 of his popular Netflix series Virgin River, Deadline asked Henderson whether he has given any thought to potentially returning to Grey’s Anatomy.
“I haven’t given it a lot of thought, just because I’ve been so committed and busy with Virgin River and some other stuff and life,” he said. “But I think Shonda Rhimes has always been really supportive of me; we’ve actually worked together a bunch of times on different things, so I would always be open to the possibility. Again, if it fitted in with whatever else was going on in my life at the time and my career.”
Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes had cast Henderson in two other projects for ABC, pilot Inside the Box and series Off the Map, before recruiting him as a new series regular for Season 12 of Grey’s Anatomy, on the heels of the shocking exit of the series’ male lead, Patrick Dempsey, the previous season.
Nathan succeeded Dempsey’s Derek as a love interest for Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) but, after a somewhat frustrating two-year run, Nathan made a quiet exit in the October 2017 episode “Danger Zone.” He was last seen on a Southern California beach with Dr. Megan Hunt’s (Abigail Spencer) and her son Farouk as they set out for a future together.
We know that didn’t last as, during a Season 18 return, Spencer’s Megan revealed that she and Nathan had broken up.
Henderson said he would be open to a Grey’s return “as long as I felt that the character had something to do and I could give something, because I don’t think they really knew what to do with Nathan,” he said. “It was almost like a stopgap measure.with the departure of Derek. It was like, oh, we need a love interest. And so he, and by virtue I, was dropped into this world, but I don’t think he was ever that defined. If I were to go back, I would have to make sure that there was a really clear plan for why he was there.”
In his exit interview in 2017, Henderson told Deadline about his Grey’s stint, “It was always a short-term thing, and I was happy to spend a few years doing the show,” adding, “I would never close the door” to a potential return.
Grey’s Anatomy is currently in its 21sth season.
“Because of the longevity and power of this show, we all know– If you’re part of the Grey’s family, you’re always part of the family and possibly can come and go through the years,” the series’ current showrunner Meg Marinis told Deadline in September.
Henderson may also collaborate Rhimes at Netflix where her Shondaland is based and he stars on Virgin River.
“It’s all in the family,” he said.
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