NEED TO KNOW
Jamie-Lynn Sigler is joining the Grey’s Anatomy cast!
The actress, 44, revealed to Deadline that she’ll be joining the long-running medical drama for the show’s upcoming 22nd season. In a joint post between herself and the outlet, the actress confirmed that she’ll step into the role of Dr. Laura Kaplan, a urologist living with multiple sclerosis.
The character of Dr. Kaplan was created specifically for Sigler, who was diagnosed with MS at age 20 and has been outspoken about her health journey.
Sigler’s Dr. Kaplan is slated to join the show’s Jan. 15, 2,208 episode, titled “Heavy on Me,” when Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) invites her to Grey Sloan to provide a different perspective on Dr. Richard Webber’s (James Pickens Jr.) case, per Deadline.
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Deadline reported that it was crucial for both Sigler and the Grey’s Anatomy producers that Dr. Kaplan not be defined by her MS diagnosis and is capable of leading a full life and career.
Sigler received her diagnosis in 2002 and chose to keep the condition private until 2016. In 2024, while speaking with PEOPLE alongside Christina Applegate about both of their MS journeys, Sigler shared that she hid her diagnosis for all that time because she could — and revealed the truth only when her symptoms became too noticeable.
“It’s because I could for quite some time, until I couldn’t,” Sigler said. “And then it became this long series of lies. ‘I have a back issue.’ ‘I must’ve tweaked my ankle.’ I got away with it as long as I could until people would be like, ‘Are you limping? Are you okay?’ ’”
“I was brushing it off because I just didn’t know what that would mean for me to say it out loud and have everybody know,” she added. “I’ll probably get fired. Who would want me? I had to take a step back and a step away to kind of really reevaluate my life. I really knew I still wanted to act and if I was gonna continue to do that, I had to set boundaries.”
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Sigler recently announced her new memoir And So It Is, which will address how she navigates her multiple sclerosis, as well as her experience with fame, grappling with an eating disorder and going through a divorce.
Grey’s Anatomy returns on ABC on Thursday evenings beginning on Jan. 8, 2026.
