Why Chyler Leigh's Dr. Lexie Grey Left Grey's Anatomy

You might recognize actor Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers from The CW's "Supergirl" and the rest of the network's Arrowverse series, but before that, she was a huge character on "Grey's Anatomy." After officially joining Shonda Rhimes' long-running medical show "Grey's Anatomy" during its third season finale, as the estranged half-sister of the titular Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), Leigh made the choice to exit after the series' eighth season. Apparently, it was her decision, and she and Rhimes figured out a way to write Lexie out of Meredith's larger story. (They did so with a plane crash; I'll circle back to that momentarily.)

In a statement provided to TVLine in 2012, shortly after the season 8 finale "Flight" aired, Leigh clarified her departure. "Earlier this year, I made the decision that [season 8] would be my last on 'Grey's Anatomy,'" Leigh explained. She continued:

"I met with Shonda and we worked together to give Lexie's story appropriate closure. I am very lucky to have worked with this amazing cast and crew for five seasons. My experience on 'Grey's Anatomy' is something that I will treasure for the rest of my life. I want to take this time to say thank you to the fans. Your unconditional love and support have made these last five years very special for me. I look forward to my next chapter, and I hope you will continue to follow me on my journey."

As for Rhimes, she admitted in a now-deleted social media post (via an archived post on The Insider) that she was devastated to lose both Chyler and Lexie, but knew it was the right time. "I love Chyler and I love the character of Lexie Grey," she remarked. "She was an important member of my 'Grey's' family. This was not an easy decision." 

Still, Rhimes clarified, once again, that this was a joint decision between the showrunner and the actor. "But it was a decision that Chyler and I came to together," she went on. "We had a lot of thoughtful discussion about it and ultimately we both decided this was the right time for her character's journey to end. As far as I'm concerned, Chyler will always remain a part of the Shondaland family, and I can't wait to work with her again in the future." Okay, so with all that said, we now have a better idea as to why Leigh left "Grey's Anatomy" — but who was Lexie anyway?

When Meredith first learns that her estranged father, Thatcher Grey (Jeff Perry), remarried and had a new family after his contentious divorce from her mother, famed surgeon Dr. Ellis Grey (Kate Burton), she's shocked to discover that she has two half-sisters: Chyler Leigh's Dr. Lexie Grey and Mandy Siegfried's Molly Grey-Thompson. Meredith meets Molly briefly in season 2 while she's a patient at Seattle Grace Hospital, but in season 3, Lexie comes to work at Seattle Grace as an intern, and to call Meredith unhappy about this is a massive understatement. Ultimately, at the urging of her boyfriend and future husband Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey, who went on to leave the show in season 11), Meredith learns to accept Lexie into her life, and the two finally bond as sisters. Lexie even moves into Meredith's house, and when Thatcher needs an emergency liver transplant but requires a direct donation due to his history of alcoholism, Meredith steps up and donates a portion of her own liver to Thatcher solely on Lexie's behalf, knowing how much Lexie loves their father.

Lexie is also, frankly, just a really great character on "Grey's Anatomy." Often called "Little Grey" to differentiate her from Meredith, Lexie has an eidetic — or photographic — memory, so her other nickname, "Lexipedia," refers to the fact that she can recall basically anything she's ever read at the drop of a hat. Lexie is funny, charming, and plays so well off of the rest of the "Grey's" gang — and her on-again, off-again relationship with plastics chief and Derek's best friend, Dr. Mark Sloan (Eric Dane), is one of the show's most heartfelt love stories.

Sadly, during the season 8 finale "Flight," Lexie is on a plane with Meredith, Derek, Mark, and their colleagues Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) and Dr. Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) flying from Seattle to Boise to assist with a surgery ... and the plane crashes in the remote woods. Arizona later loses her leg due to her injuries and Mark sustains severe wounds that eventually lead to his death (when Dane leaves the series during the season 9 premiere), but Lexie is the first true casualty, as she's trapped under the fuselage immediately after the crash. With Meredith and Mark by her side, and the latter telling her they're going to grow old together and finally be happy, Lexie dies, leaving her sister and soulmate devastated. Later, after Seattle Grace is sued for the plane crash and changes hands, it's renamed Grey Sloan Memorial to honor Mark and Lexie.

Just like a few other departed actors and characters (including Eric Dane's Mark, Patrick Dempsey's Derek, and T.R. Knight's original surgical intern Dr. George O'Malley), Chyler Leigh ended up returning to "Grey's Anatomy" in season 17. How? Well, that season tackles the very real COVID-19 pandemic and does so by giving Meredith a particularly severe case of the virus that lands her in a coma. While in said coma, Meredith hallucinates several of her deceased loved ones, all of whom encourage her to fight for her life so that she can see her three children again. According to Leigh, though, the experience was weird precisely because of COVID-19, which set travel restrictions that made it impossible for her to participate in the scene in a traditional way, so to speak.

As Leigh revealed to Entertainment Tonight in 2021, she wasn't anywhere near Ellen Pompeo or Dane — Lexie and Mark appear together, suggesting that they're together in some sort of afterlife — during filming. "Well, it was a really interesting experience, just because I did have to film it up here in Canada because you can't travel back and forth to the States," Leigh explained. "So all of my stuff was done on basically green screen. And we're not sitting on the rocks. I was sitting on an apple box, and I was talking to tennis balls. So in that sense, it was interesting."

Still, Leigh was grateful for the medical drama's approach to the pandemic, as well as the chance to revisit the character of Lexie Grey. "But understanding there are dynamics between Lexie and Meredith, and then Lexie and Mark. It was really special to be able to be part of it and especially telling such a powerful story," she added. "The tribute of this season is really towards first responders and their experience during the whole pandemic, so to be part of that was obviously very special."

Plus, it was a way for Leigh to play Lexie again after a particularly disturbing ending for the character. Early in season 9, a traumatized Cristina tells her then-boyfriend (later husband) Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) that she heard animals in the darkness after the crash and realized they were fighting over Lexie's body; though she tried to keep them at bay, she couldn't. "And to be able to close the chapter for Lexie, and to appear in a way where she's not eaten by wolves," Leigh said wryly. "Kind of bring a little life back to it ... It was a special experience to be able to be part of that."

You can watch Leigh's performance as Dr. Lexie Grey on "Grey's Anatomy," which is streaming on Hulu and Netflix now.