Well, Grey’s Anatomy will be back for Season 13, but at least one of the show’s major characters won’t be. After 10 years on the show, Sara Ramirez has decided to leave the halls of Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital behind.
According to TVLine, Sara Ramirez, whose contract with the show was up for renewal after this season, announced her departure from the show in a statement, where she specified that she was leaving Grey’s Anatomy to take “some welcome time off.” In the final moments of tonight’s episode, Ramirez’s character, Dr. Callie Torres, moved to New York with her girlfriend Penny Blake.
As can be expected from any character who played a significant part in Grey’s Anatomy for 10 years, Callie has seen her fair share of ups, downs and in-betweens. She was originally introduced as a senior orthopedic resident who had a crush on intern George O’Malley. Their on and off relationship led to her having an affair with plastic surgeon Mark Sloan, then a spur of the moment Las Vegas marriage between herself and George, and a post-vows drunken sexual encounter between George and Izzie Stevens. This, of course, led to a divorce.
Callie then began a relationship with cardiothoracic surgery chief Erica Hahn, but when Callie has trouble coming to terms with being bisexual, she falls back into bed with Mark and the two eventually split when Erica resigns her post at the hospital. Callie then embarks on the relationship that would take her through most of her time while on staff at Grey-Sloan Memorial. She and Arizona Robbins (together known as Calzona to fans) began dating and were quickly tested when Callie came out to her father and he disowned her. When they breakup because of Arizona heading to Malawi to work with children, Callie falls back into bed with Mark and ends up pregnant, but the couple manages to reconcile and marry. But, one amputated leg and a couple of affairs later, Callie finally calls an end to the relationship.
Sara Ramirez joined the cast of Grey’s Anatomy in Season 2, after being seen by ABC executives in a Broadway performance of Spamalot. Ramirez’s performance in that show so wowed the executives, that they offered her a pick of roles in any program on the network, and Ramirez chose Grey’s Anatomy. Show creator Shonda Rhimes was already looking to give George a girlfriend, and after meeting Ramirez, she built the character around her. Callie was a recurring character in Season 2, and moved up to star billing for Season 3.
It’s no fun watching one of your favorite characters leave one of your favorite shows, but, with Grey’s Anatomy, you can bet that they’ll find a good way to spread around all the drama that would have filled Callie’s life.
