#Sarah Drew Previews April’s Return & Reunion With Jackson

Sarah Drew is stepping back into Dr. April Kepner’s shoes in the May 6 episode of Grey’s Anatomy, almost exactly three years after she left the show.

Once again she’ll be sharing the screen with Jesse Williams, who plays her ex-husband Dr. Jackson Avery.

It’s very much “a Jackson story,” Drew tells TV Insider. “He’s going through something big and she’s the one that is there to listen.”

We do know that Jackson isn’t just reuniting on-screen with his ex. He’s also going to be paying his estranged father, Robert (Eric Roberts), a visit as well. That comes after Jackson had a tense conversation with his mother, Dr. Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen), about not doing things they’ve talked about in the medical field.

“I don’t want to play a role in a system that’s just broken,” he said, and to her, he sounded like his father. “That’d be the worst thing in the world?” he asked.

But while the focus is on Jackson, Drew promises that “you’ll hear plenty about what’s going on with April.” (Last we saw her character, she married Matthew, played by Justin Bruening, and left the hospital.)

Though she couldn’t say much more about what to expect — not even what to expect from the tone of their scenes — she reminds us that while Jackson’s clearly psyching himself up to talk to her in the promo, it’s not like the two aren’t seeing each other regularly. “She’s still in Seattle. They’ve still been co-parenting this whole time,” Drew says (the pair have a daughter together).”They probably see each other twice a week when they do handoffs.”

For Drew, it was “very easy” to step back into April’s shoes. “I felt so warmly welcomed getting to see everyone and hug everyone. It was like no time had passed,” she says. “I felt just my heart just leaped when I was on set and just seeing folks. I’ve missed everyone so much. It’s such a beautiful community over there. Then especially just hopping back into the April and Jackson dynamic, Jesse and I have always worked really well together and have such a beautiful partnership and such a great friendship. That was just such a delight to jump back in and so easy.”

Grey’s Anatomy, Thursdays, 9/8c, ABC