Ellen Pompeo, who achieved fame as Dr. Meredith Grey in Grey's Anatomy, will only appear in eight episodes of the upcoming 19th season due to her new role in the Hulu miniseries called Orphan. Although she remains a co-executive producer and narrator for the series, no decisions have been made about her leaving the show entirely. Orphan is about the case of Ukrainian-born adoptee Natalia Grace, whom an American couple believed was actually an adult sociopath with dwarfism masquerading as a child.

Pompeo's work on Grey's Anatomy had already been scaled back, including the season 17 where her character spent part of it in a coma.