Fans of Grey’s Anatomy might be delighted to spot that Jesse Williams is starring in the new season of Only Murders in the Building as Tobert, a documentary maker. The star landed the brilliant new Hulu and Disney+ project one year after leaving the hit medical show, where he played Dr Jackson Avery, but why did he leave? Find out here…
Speaking to the Deadline about his decision to leave the show back in 2022, Jesse explained: “This was an organic, collective decision; it wasn’t something I had to tell anybody. It was something we found and understood and were trying to honor it and do properly. It was a team effort throughout. It didn’t feel like any one of us coming to the other and having an outcome predetermined. We wrote something together and this is what it was.”
He added: “It took shape in this last year or so. We try, whenever possible, to talk with what’s true to the character and not what’s true to our other needs and wants. I’m glad to be able to help design that.”
He added to the New York Times: "I knew that as I designed my exit, the next thing I did had to be terrifying. This was an organic, collective decision; it wasn’t something I had to tell anybody. It was something we found and understood and were trying to honor it and do properly. It was a team effort throughout. It didn’t feel like any one of us coming to the other and having an outcome predetermined. We wrote something together and this is what it was.”
The show’s executive producer Krista Vernoff spoke about his decision to Deadline at the time, saying: “Jesse Williams is an extraordinary artist and activist. Watching his evolution these past 11 years both on screen and off has been a true gift. Jesse brings so much heart, such depth of care, and so much intelligence to his work. We will miss Jesse terribly and we will miss Jackson Avery — played to perfection for so many years."
Jesse went on to star in the Broadway show Take Me Out, which won Best Revival of a Play at the 75th Tony Awards, before joining the cast of the hit murder mystery show as Tobert, a documentarian with an interest in Mabel, Charles and Oliver’s new case: who killed Ben Glenroy?
Chatting about what to expect from season three, Executive producer Jess Rosenthal told TV Insider: “There are physical attempts on their lives, paths crossed with ghosts. Their love lives are threatened at every turn, and by the way, Oliver has a tenuous Broadway musical to get on its feet. The stakes for our trio have never been higher."