James Pickens Jr. has starred as Doctor Richard Webber on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy since its premiere in 2005. The popular medical drama returns for its 22nd season on Thursday, October 9, at 10 PM ET. The actor spoke with The Nerds of Color during the 2025 Disney Upfront red carpet about his character’s evolution, how the medical drama has been shared from generation to generation, and more.

Grey’s Anatomy follows a team of doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial who are faced with life-or-death decisions on a daily basis. They seek comfort from one another and, at times, more than just friendship. Together, they discover that neither medicine nor relationships can be defined in black and white.

The series has been on for so many years that it has been passed down from generation to generation, which is truly special. What does it mean to have fans of different generations, ages, and walks of life tell you what Grey’s Anatomy and these characters mean to them?
James Pickens Jr.: Well, I feel very humble and grateful. Obviously, we’ve impacted the culture in a way that, like you said, this is the third generation that’s now watching this show since we premiered in 2005. And so, to be a part of that from day one, I feel really extremely, extremely humbled by it. At the end of the day, I think what has not changed has been great storytelling, and with the influx of all this other minutiae that goes around us, I think folks still want to see and hear a great story, and they want to take that journey with those characters and see how it comes out at the other end.

What has it meant to be able to grow with your character and revisit them at different points throughout their journey, not only as an actor but as a person?
Yeah, I’ve been extremely, extremely blessed and fortunate to have a character that I’ve watched, kind of travel with him. How can I put this? To have someone write a character for me like this, at the stage of my career I was in, and then watch how that character navigated all 450 episodes, I feel extremely humbled and grateful for it. 

Lastly, we’ve lost so many amazing characters over the years. If Webber had the opportunity to speak to one of them and either ask them a question or share something with them, who do you think he would choose and what would he say?
You know what, I think it would be every one of them that we’ve lost for whatever reason. They were all so integral to the popularity of the show and its success. I couldn’t pull one out without him being connected to the hip by the other one.

New episodes will continue to air weekly and be available to stream the next day on Hulu.