Jesse Williams Sounds Off on Decision to Leave Grey’s Anatomy

If you’re struggling with imposter syndrome, you’re not alone.

Jesse Williams exited ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy in 2021 after playing Jackson Avery for 12 years. His departure from the medical drama was met with sadness from fans who fell in love with the brooding, often shirtless doctor.

But it was a necessary change for Jesse, who tells the New York Times that he felt “increasingly safe, protected, insulated” on the Shonda Rhimes series. 

“I knew that as I designed my exit, the next thing I did had to be terrifying,” he explained. “I needed to get out of my comfort zone, I needed to go into a very unknown place.”

He found that challenge in the upcoming Broadway revival of Take Me Out, a Tony winner about a baseball player who comes out of the closet. The play is a whole new ball game in comparison to Grey’s, in which he says he was “not even wearing pants in half of those scenes.”