Why Midori Francis' Dr. Mika Yasuda Left Grey's Anatomy
In May of 2024, Deadline reported that, after just two years and seasons on "Grey's Anatomy," actress Midori Francis would hang up her stethoscope as Dr. Mika Yasuda. Francis, who was previously known for projects like "Dash & Lily," signed with agency WME to try and book more varied roles and split "amicably" from the long-running medical series, which was created by Shonda Rhimes but has been helmed by showrunner Meg Marinis since the show's landmark 20th season.
Who was Francis's Mika, and how did she leave the series? Mika arrives in season 19 as part of a group of new interns, and thanks to a mountain of student debt, she works multiple jobs in addition to her surgical internship, leading to some serious burnout (though she's ultimately helped out by Kim Raver's Dr. Teddy Altman, the chief of surgery at Grey Sloan). When her sister Chloe (Julia Rose) shows up in Seattle for treatment for advanced colorectal cancer, Mika's personal and professional lives collide. Exhausted from working such a strenuous job and stressed about her sister's health, Mika falls asleep behind the wheel with Chloe in her car, leading to a car crash, and Chloe later dies from her injuries.
Despite a burgeoning romantic relationship with her fellow intern Dr. Jules Millin (Adelaide Kane), Mika can't bear working at Grey Sloan even after an extended break mandated by her superior, Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), who's overseeing this class of interns. As they work on a patient suffering from heatstroke, Mika has a breakdown and realizes that she doesn't need more time off; she needs to leave the hospital where her sister died. So what did Francis have to say about her dramatic departure?
Midori Francis feels like the way that Dr. Mika Yasuda left Grey's Anatomy is pretty perfect
In November 2024, just after her final episode, "Drop It Like It's Hot," aired, Midori Francis sat down with Deadline to chat about her exit. After candidly saying she was a long-time fan of "Grey's Anatomy," Francis said, "I had a full-hearted, full-throated, wild, beautiful ride that I am so grateful for." Francis also praised the writers for finding a creative and dramatic solution for Mika's exit: "When I think about Mika, she's so ambitious and she's so competitive, so what would cause her to leave Grey Sloan? And boy, did they set that up well."
According to Francis, she and Meg Marinis, who both have sisters in real life, worked very closely to orchestrate the Chloe storyline that led to Mika's departure. Still, Francis had to point out that Chloe's fate was pretty cruel, even for a show as notoriously violent as "Grey's Anatomy" (seriously, this show kills its own doctors off all the time). "And then, when they did what they did to Chloe," Francis mused, "Oh, my God. I think they called themselves monsters in the most loving way."
Still, Francis says she thinks the entire setup was a perfect and bittersweet experience. "But what it did is it made for a freaking great episode and so iconically 'Grey's,' which is a very full circle moment for me, because I started with watching 'Grey's,'" Francis explained. "I just felt like the only way Mika would leave the hospital is something really bad happening. And boy, they created something so incredible for me to play. I honestly had such a great time this season."
Yes, Midori Francis would love to return to Grey's Anatomy in some way, shape, or form
Like Midori Francis, I've been watching "Grey's Anatomy" for years, and something I've learned along the way is that characters can return at basically any time (even if they're dead, because a bunch of dead characters showed up when Ellen Pompeo's titular Dr. Meredith Grey was in a COVID-induced coma in season 17 and she had visions of her lost loved ones). In fact, in the very season where Francis's Mika Yasuda leaves, the show brings back Kali Rocha's interminably peppy Dr. Sydney Heron, who briefly replaces Miranda Bailey as head of the residency program. So what does Francis think about Mika ever visiting Grey Sloan Memorial again, presumably after a whole lot of therapy to help her grieve the gutting loss of her younger sister?
"I think Mika has a lot of healing to do, and she's going to go home and do that," Francis said in the immediate aftermath of her character's exit. "In the back of my mind, because I know how passionate she is about what she does, do I think and do I hope that she will find a way to use this grief as a way to continue pursuing caring for other people? Yes, I do."
That's a lovely statement about Mika, but how does Francis feel about ever returning to this world? "As far as returning to 'Grey's,' I would be so delighted," she said. "These people and this world has become part of my trajectory of acting families, and I would be absolutely delighted to return." Still, she's not sure about Mika: "I don't know if Mika would, I think for Mika it would be triggering."