'Grey's Anatomy': Caterina Scorsone Details How Ellen Pompeo's Absence Will Work in Season 19 (Exclusive)

Caterina Scorsone is sharing how Grey's Anatomy will address Ellen Pompeo's limited role in season 19. The actress stopped by the ET stages on Tuesday afternoon for an exclusive sit-down interview where she previewed the new season, which also welcomes five new interns into the world of Grey Sloan.

"The whole first part of the season is working its way around this story," Scorsone told ET's Nischelle Turner at the stages in Studio City, California. "How does this happen? She’s not there all the time. But also, I think we had emphasized this new incoming class a lot so we’ve always had a structure on the show where we have A plot, B plot, C plot. And that’s given us maximum flexibility. So if someone gets sick or if somebody’s out with a baby, we can always lean into another storyline and another group of characters. That’s the nice thing about having a huge ensemble. You can have your babies and it's fine."

With Pompeo stepping back, as she's set to appear in eight episodes, the new season brings about a feeling of the torch being passed on.

"Who's getting the torch? Ah, well, what I would say is I feel like everybody is doing a graduating shift into a new kind of chapter of their life," Scorsone said. "So I think the fun thing for me is that Amelia kind of started out on Grey's... trying to prove herself and she was brilliant but troubled and really trying to find her way. In this season, she’s really moving into her leadership role and her authority and her embodied femininity, so she gets to kind of be a mama bear and a teacher."

Scorsone reminded viewers that while Pompeo won't be seen onscreen as much, her voice will still remain an important part of the season, as the longtime leading lady and executive producer continues to narrate.

"Ellen is very much involved with the show," Scorsone promised, acknowledging that she's not fully sure how they're transitioning Meredith out of the picture for the time being. "I don’t know how they’re conceiving of it. She is kind of stepping back and actually stepping forward. She's doing [a new show] with Hulu. She's very involved in producing right now, so she's doing a lot but she's still narrating."

"I feel like I say this a lot but I kind of feel like we’ve been through so much and we’ve had so many incredible characters kind of come to be formed and then have a journey, that Grey Sloan Memorial -- the hospital itself -- is one of the central characters of the show," she said. "It's our home and then this whole community of people live life together in this space."

As for what else viewers can expect from Amelia's journey this season, work and training the interns will be her primary focus -- at least at the start. But in the romance department, Scorsone assured Amelia/Kai fans that they haven't seen the last of E.R. Fightmaster, the actor who plays Kai.

"[Amelia] kind of had this love story last year, and there was a breakup and at the very last episode they reunited. When we pick up, it's very medical at the beginning, but I think I’m allowed to reveal... that Kai will be back," Scorsone shared.

In classic Grey's style, there will be surprises when it comes to Amelia's dynamic with the new interns, especially with one medical resident for reasons that will soon come to light. "There’s some friction with one of the interns and then there’s a big reveal," Scorsone teased. "Tune in!"

Recent seasons of the show have brought back many familiar faces from the early Grey's days -- from Patrick Dempsey and T.R. Knight to Eric Dane and Kate Walsh, the latter of whom will recur this year. The actress had her eye on several beloved cast members of Grey's of yore of whom she'd personally like to see back again. 

"I mean, obviously, Sandra Oh," Scorsone said. "It would be so sweet if she came back. I love Lexi, the character, and Chyler Leigh, the actor. Gosh, there’s so many. The one that is the outlier that everybody still talks about with sadness and it was a moment is Kyle Chandler. He had the most incredible episode [in season 2] with the bomb on the body. If we could reassemble him and bring him back, that would be a medical victory!"

Scorsone couldn't help but reminisce about the first few seasons as she went down memory lane.

"With that whole original cast? Yeah, there were some really good chemistry with all of them," she said of the early years, likening the new interns to bringing a similar energy from back then. "And now we have this new class that is really bringing those vibes. Very distinct, very different but they have this group of people and the chemistry is fantastic. They’ve got the comedic and they’ve got the dramatic and they're lovely human beings. We like being there with them and so I'm actually, as a fan, excited to watch that energy come back from the beginning."

Grey's Anatomy premieres Thursday, Oct. 6 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

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