Why Sara Ramirez's Callie Torres Left Grey's Anatomy After 12 Seasons

Real hospitals experience turnover all the time; ask any real medical professional. People go elsewhere after they finish their residencies, or doctors migrate to become attending physicians — it's just part of the reality of the job. With that said, I'm not going to sit here and pretend that "Grey's Anatomy," the long-running medical drama created by Shonda Rhimes, is particularly medically accurate, because I'd like to think that bombs don't end up in body cavities all that often in real operating rooms and I really hope that fatality rates are lower amongst actual doctors than they are among the staff of the Seattle-based surgeons on this series ... because those doctors die a lot, and it's pretty alarming. (If you need a dose of medical reality, may I suggest that you check out "The Pitt" instead?) This definitely doesn't stop "Grey's Anatomy" from being entertaining, and the show's outstanding ensemble cast is what makes it such a fun watch — and that definitely includes Sara Ramírez's extremely talented orthopedic surgeon Dr. Calliope Torres, who goes by Callie and is an indispensable part of the show.

Ramírez played Callie for 11 seasons of "Grey's Anatomy," making their debut in season 2 and departing the series at the end of season 12. The way they even got involved with "Grey's Anatomy" is genuinely fascinating; before playing a surgeon on the series, Ramírez won a Tony Award for their performance as the Lady of the Lake in "Spamalot," the Broadway adaptation of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." As a part of the show's original cast — which included Tim Curry, Hank Azaria, and David Hyde Pierce — Ramírez stunned as the show's non-male lead who gets the showstopper "Diva's Lament (What Ever Happened to My Part?)" in Act II after the character randomly disappears, and Ramírez told Glamour in 2021 that ABC executives offered them a role on any of the network's shows after their Tony win for their impressive performance. "It's unheard of," Ramírez said of the experience, during which they said they received a pile of DVDs and the order to just pick whatever show they wanted to appear on.

Ramírez picked "Grey's Anatomy," and the rest is quite literally history; Callie is currently the record-holder for the longest-running queer character in television history. So, who was Callie? Why did Ramírez and their character leave, and what did the actor do after playing a surgeon?

When we meet Callie Torres in season 2, she's introduced as a resident who's a love interest for one of the show's original interns, Dr. George O'Malley (T.R. Knight). Though George's best friends and roommates Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Dr. Isobel "Izzie" Stevens (Katherine Heigl) aren't particularly nice to Callie at first — which puts a strain on her relationship with George — they're basically forced to accept Callie when she and George elope in Las Vegas after George's father dies. George ends up cheating on Callie with Izzie in a bizarre season 4 plotline, so the two split ... and Callie's next relationship is with a woman, Brooke Smith's talented but deeply stubborn cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Erica Hahn.

Hahn and Smith were written out of the series at the end of season 4, but Callie comes out as bisexual in the wake of their relationship and establishes a "friends with benefits" relationship with her best friend at the hospital, plastic surgeon Dr. Mark Sloan (a beautifully cast Eric Dane). In season 5, new pediatric surgeon Dr. Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw, daughter of Kate Capshaw and stepdaughter of Steven Spielberg) comes to work at Seattle Grace Hospital and catches Callie's eye; before long, the two are in a serious relationship.

Though Arizona and Callie briefly split when they argue about having children — Callie wants to, while Arizona doesn't — they reunite after a devastating mass shooting hits the hospital in the (frankly stunning) season 6 finale, but they split again when Arizona wins a prestigious grant that takes her to Africa to help sick children. In Arizona's absence, Mark and Callie pick up their arrangement once again, and when Arizona returns to try and win Callie back, Callie informs her that she's pregnant with Mark's baby. Despite a devastating car accident, Callie gives birth to a baby girl named Sofia, Arizona legally adopts her, and Arizona and Callie get married in season 7; throughout all of this, Callie mends her relationship with her father Carlos (Héctor Elizondo), who initially doesn't approve of her sexuality.

Everything changes yet again when, at the end of season 8, Arizona and several other doctors get into a plane crash while flying to Idaho to assist with an operation. Mark sustains serious injuries and ultimately dies back in Seattle, and Arizona's leg is crushed under part of the plane; against her wishes, Callie agrees to have Arizona's leg amputated when, also back in Seattle, she develops a life-threatening infection. The loss of Arizona's leg leaves her devastated for some time, and even though she adjusts to life as an amputee, she always holds Callie's decision to amputate against her and ultimately cheats on Callie with visiting pediatric surgeon Dr. Lauren Boswell (Hilarie Burton) at the end of season 9. The two try and reconcile yet again, but the infidelity is the final blow.

After Arizona and Callie separate and divorce, Callie starts dating incoming intern Dr. Penny Blake (Samantha Sloyan), who's set to work at what is now named Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital (in the memory of Mark and Meredith's half-sister Dr. Lexie Grey, who died during the plane crash and was played by Chyler Leigh). Unfortunately, their relationship doesn't get off to a great start ... because when Callie brings Penny to a dinner party at Meredith's house, Meredith reveals to everyone that she and Penny already met when Penny treated Meredith's grievously injured husband Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) at a rural hospital after a car accident. Derek died at that hospital of a brain bleed because nobody performed a CT exam on his head, and Meredith holds Penny accountable for his death.

Okay, so how and why does Callie leave Seattle, paving the way for Sara Ramírez to exit as well? Penny gets a major grant, but it requires a move to New York City, so Callie decides to join her. One problem: Sofia. Arizona and Callie enter into a devastating and heartbreaking battle for full custody of Sofia, and Arizona wins the case, leaving Callie heartbroken. Still, things eventually turn out okay. After Sofia struggles to adapt to a bicoastal lifestyle, Arizona decides to move to New York at the end of season 14 so that both mothers and their daughter can be near each other, and though we don't see Callie, we see Arizona write a text to her ex-wife, and there's a suggestion that perhaps the two rekindle their relationship yet again.

Arizona (and Capshaw, obviously) returned for an arc in season 20, so why didn't Callie and Sara Ramírez return too? "We have an open-door policy here," the series' third showrunner, Meg Marinis, told TVLine (Marinis followed Shonda Rhimes and Krista Vernoff and took the reins of the series after its 19th season ended). "We always want to see old characters come back and interact with the new characters."

"That was such an iconic relationship. It's still, to this day," Marinis continued, speaking to the importance of Callie and Arizona's long-running and complex relationship. "When people approach me, one of the things that resonates with them about the show is that relationship. It's amazing that people still talk about it. Clearly, we did something right."

After the season 12 finale of "Grey's Anatomy," Sara Ramírez confirmed their exit from the series in a statement (via Us Weekly), thanking creator Shonda Rhimes personally. "I'm deeply grateful to have spent the last 10 years with my family at 'Grey's Anatomy' and ABC, but for now I'm taking some welcome time off," Ramírez said at the time. "Shonda's been so incredible to work for, and we will definitely continue our conversations! I send my love to Ellen [Pompeo], the rest of the cast and crew, and I look forward to always being a part of the Shondaland family!" (Rhimes released her own statement, saying, "Dr. Callie Torres came into our lives dancing it out in her underwear almost a decade ago, and I could not be happier or more proud of her journey," the prolific TV producer said. "Sara Ramirez's performance inspired me as well as millions of fans each week. We wish [them] the best on [their] well-deserved time off. I will miss Callie tremendously, but am excited for what the future holds for Sara. [They] will always have a home at Shondaland.")

Ramírez followed their time as Callie on the ABC series "Madam Secretary," where they played policy advisor to Téa Leoni's titular Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord; after that, they took a role as queer non-binary podcast host and stand-up comedian Che Diaz on the "Sex and the City" reboot on HBO Max, "...And Just Like That." Che was a ... divisive character, to say the least, and after working alongside Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw on an in-universe podcast called "X, Y, and Me" and romancing Carrie's best friend Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), Che and Ramírez left the series before its third season. 

"Grey's Anatomy" is available to stream on Hulu and Netflix if you want to relive Callie Torres' glory days.