Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 Upgrades Natalie Morales to a Recurring Role
Natalie Morales has officially joined the recurring cast of Grey’s Anatomy for its historic Season 21.
According to Variety, she will make her first appearance in the new season during its second episode. It has also been reported by The Wrap that Morales will have a guaranteed appearance in six episodes and an option for more.
As previously reported, Grey’s Anatomy‘s new season is set to premiere on Thursday, September 26, at 10/9c on ABC.
Morales joined the ensemble as Dr. Monica Beltran, a new pediatric surgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, on Grey’s Anatomy Season 20 Episode 3, “Walk the Ocean.”
When she was first introduced, ABC’s official character description read: “She’s beloved in her field for her great pragmatism and levelheadedness, and she has a savvy bedside manner with both her young patients as well as their parents.”
“She doesn’t always see eye to eye with her colleagues and will let nothing get in the way of helping her kids,” it continued.
When Grey’s Anatomy Season 20 Episode 1, “We’ve Only Just Begun,” premiered in March 2024, showrunner Meg Marinis told Deadline Dr. Beltran might cause tensions between the characters and possibly develop a romance with someone.
Monica stirred things up for many doctors, notably Dr. Levi Schmitt, Dr. Winston Ndugu, and Dr. Amelia Sheperd.
She reluctantly decided to mentor Dr. Schmitt in his quest to pursue a pediatric fellowship and taught him how important and valuable the work is.
She had a rocky start with Amelia after not seeing eye to eye regarding patient care on Grey’s Anatomy Season 20 Episode 6, “The Marathon Continues.”
However, the two started to grow close. After revealing that Monica was going through a messy divorce, there was a hint that perhaps a relationship would develop between Monica and Amelia.
Things became complicated when Monica grew close to Winston instead, which could potentially develop into a messy love triangle.
There are no details yet as to what is next for Monica, but she is one of the very few doctors who was not fired on Grey’s Anatomy Season 20 Episode 10, “Burn It Down.”
Natalie Morales has previously worked on Santa Clarita Diet, Dead to Me, and The Morning Show.
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Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 premieres on Thursday, September 26 at 10/9c on ABC.
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Gabriela Burgos Soler
Gabriela Burgos Soler was born and raised in Puerto Rico, she graduated from the University of Puerto Rico where she studied her two loves, literature and film. She currently pursuing her MFA in Screenwriting. In her free time she promotes women in film & rewatches “The X-Files". She is a co-host of the Film Posers Podcast, a podcast run by four boricuas ranting, raving & reviewing cinema.