Guest Stars News (Page 2)

More guest star news. Martha Plimpton has been cast in a multi-episode role on Grey's Anatomy, according to Entertainment Weekly, via the Hollywood Reporter.

Plimpton, a three-time Tony Award nominee, will play the mother of a young patient, and her story arc will commence with the September 24 season premiere.

We look forward to the actress' turn on Grey's Anatomy.

Grey's Anatomy has prescribed an encore for Mitch Pileggi.

Pileggi, who first guest-starred on the ABC drama toward the end of Season Three (remember him?), will be returning for the two-hour Season Six premiere, again playing hospital board chairman Larry Jennings, TV Guide has learned.

When Pileggi, an X-Files alum, first appeared as Jennings, the Seattle Grace bigwig required medical attention after a trip to the Amazon in South America left him with a carnivorous fish lodged in, well, an unfortunate part of his anatomy.

Now you remember him.

Larry Jennings is effectively a boss of Dr. Richard Webber (the Chief).

For his encore, Pileggi's hospital exec will have official business to tend to. It perhaps relates to not one but two staff members, Drs. Izzie Stevens and George O'Malley, currently on death's door as the new season begins. But that's just one of many possible theories.

Grey's Anatomy's season premiere airs Thursday, September 24, at 9 pm EST.

As we reported last week, the lovely Kaley Cuoco was set to guest star on Grey's Anatomy, only to suddenly disappear from the cast a few days ago.

Well, EW has cracked the case of the mysterious vanishing guest star.

Although the actress' rep says an unforeseen "publicity commitment" forced The Big Bang Theory star to back out of a top-secret appearance on Grey's Anatomy's May 14 season finale, multiple sources say it was her current employer, CBS, that nixed the deal.

An CBS spokesperson couldn't be reached for comment, but one insider explains, "They didn't want one of their biggest stars appearing on one of ABC's biggest shows."

As a result, Grey's Anatomy has instead tapped former OC starlet Shannon Lucio (she played Caleb's illegitimate daughter, Lindsay) to fill Kaley Cuoco's shoes.

Still unknown: Who the heck is she playing?

Some speculated that, based on Cuoco's resemblance to Grey's Anatomy star Katherine Heigl, perhaps the character is a relative of Izzie Stevens.

That possibility may be less likely with the casting of Lucio... or is it?

A big (bang) guest star has signed on for the Grey's Anatomy season finale.

According to Michael Ausiello, a CBS sitcom star has signed on to appear in the the May 14 episode.

Kaley Cuoco, the lovely leading lady on The Big Bang Theory, will star in the finale as... someone. The actress admits she actually has no idea about the character she'll portray.

"I am working on Grey's Anatomy next week," Cuoco said. "It is a big ol' secret. I have no clue what I am doing. I swear on my life that I have no idea what I am playing because it is the finale and they are keeping it under wraps until the last possible moment."

On the heels of Tyne Daly paying Seattle a visit as Derek Shepherd's mother, Carolyn, Grey's Anatomy fans can get ready to meet another main character's mom.

Sharon Lawrence, who is best known for her run on NYPD Blue and who most recently played parent to Privileged's JoAnna Garcia, has been tapped to guest-star as Izzie Stevens' mother, TVGuide.com reports today. Izzie's background is still mostly a mystery.

Grey's Anatomy is winding down its fifth season just as Katherine Heigl's character, freshly diagnosed with metastatic melanoma, is coming to terms with her mortality.

Lawrence will appear in a late-April episode. What brings Izzie's mom to town? What sort of relationship do you think they have? Sound off in the comments below!

Amy Madigan will be reprising her role as Seattle Grace's on-call shrink next month on Grey's Anatomy, only this time it's not Meredith Grey she's working with, it's Owen (Kevin McKidd).

The ex-military doc's post-traumatic stress disorder will flare up, causing him to physically hurt Cristina, albeit unintentionally, we hope. Let's hope Madigan's Dr. Wyatt can help him out.

Also returning to Grey's Anatomy is Callie's dad, played by Hector Elizondo. Pops, er, pops up in April and is shocked to discover that his daughter is now into girls. That should be good.

Former daytime star Laura Allen has kept herself rather busy since leaving All My Children. She's been appearing on everything from House MD to The 4400 to Dirt, and next, the actress will appear on Grey's Anatomy, sources report.

Her background: Someone from Major McHottie's past.

According to Matt Mitovich at TV Guide, Laura Allen will be portraying one of Owen's (Kevin McKidd) former lovers. Hmm. Wonder how Cristina will react to her arrival.

Someone's apparently been hiding out at Seattle Grace all these years, Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly reports, and we're guessing you didn't see this one coming:

It's Faye Dunaway!

Sources confirm that the Oscar winner (for Network), who hasn't taken a TV gig since a 2006 episode of CSI, has signed on for at least one episode of Grey's Anatomy.

That episode will air in February, and reports say she will play a renowned doctor at the hospital who crosses paths with the Chief, Cristina and Owen.

In other guest star news, Tyne Daly will be guest starring as Derek's mother this week, meeting Meredith for the first time in "Sympathy For the Devil."

There's a killer coming to Seattle Grace. E! Online spoke exclusively with Eric Stoltz about his upcoming three-episode guest starring role on Grey's Anatomy, and what he says about his death-row inmate character sounds downright ominous.

Eric teases about the purpose of his character, which debuts tomorrow in "Wish You Were Here" (follow link for some quality sneak previews): "I would have to say that I insinuate myself in between Mer and Der in a way that isn't exactly helpful."

Hmm. What do you suppose that could mean?

Says Eric (with a fair amount of feigned affrontery), "I'm not about to tell you what happens! Why would anyone do that? I wouldn't want to know what happens!"

Seriously though, who is this fellow, and how does he impact the delicate fabric of relationships - professional and otherwise - at Seattle Grace? As Stoltz tells it:

"My character's name is William Dunn, and he's a death-row inmate who came to Seattle Grace due to the fact that he has a shiv shoved in his back during a fight in the prison yard."

"The nature of his crime is actually revealed in the episode of show that airs on Thursday night, so I would hate to give it away right now."

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Here's a minor Grey's Anatomy spoiler / casting note in case you haven't heard about it yet - for the January 15 episode, "Sympathy for the Devil," Tyne Daly (Judging Amy, Cagney and Lacey) has been cast as Derek's mother! Wonder how that will go ...

In the episode, the mother of Derek (Patrick Dempsey) will meet Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) for the first time. Will this lead to some Mer-Der drama, which has been lacking? Elsewhere, Owen (Kevin McKidd) and Cristina (Sandra Oh) go on their first real date.