Beloved 2000s Teen Star Joins ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

Grey’s Anatomy has added a beloved 2000s teen star to its cast.

Shondaland has announced that Sara Paxton is set to appear later this season.

Paxton will portray Leticia, “a discouraged sister accompanying her brother Corban during his hospital stay. Unfortunately, this is not her first time on this journey, leaving her with very little optimism about a positive outcome.” She will make her Grey’s debut on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 10 p.m. ET, which will be the first episode back from the Winter Olympics hiatus. According to Deadline, Paxton will be in two episodes of the long-running medical drama.

Paxton is best known for her roles in a handful of early 2000s projects, most notably as the titular mermaid in 2006’s Aquamarine, starring alongside Emma Roberts and JoJo. She also starred as the titular Darcy Fields in the Discovery Kids and Family Channel teen sitcom Darcy’s Wild Life and took over the role of Marnie Piper in Disney Channel’s Return to Halloweentown in 2006. In 2004, Paxton appeared in five episodes of the short-lived WB drama Summerland as Sarah Borden, and in 2008, she starred as Rachel in the Amanda Bynes-led film Sydney White.

Additional credits include Perfect Game, Action, Hounded, Greetings from Tucson, Sleepover, Superhero Movie, The Beautiful Life: TBL, The Innkeepers, Shark Night, Cheap Thrills, Eddsworld, Heartbeat, Murder in the First, and Good Girls. Paxton can most recently be seen in 2025’s Weapons and Leads, as well as Peacock’s Based on a True Story. Coincidentally, Grey’s Anatomy is her second Shondaland series, having previously appeared on an episode of How to Get Away With Murder in 2014.

As previously mentioned, Grey’s Anatomy is currently on another break, like most shows, due to the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. The games officially kick off on Friday and will run through Feb. 22. A chunk of shows across all networks will be going on hiatus this month, likely due to the Olympics. But rest assured, Grey’s Anatomy will be back on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC, with Sarah Paxton’s first episode. Just from the character description, it sounds like there will be quite a lot of emotions running around, and there’s no telling what will happen. For now, all episodes of Grey’s Anatomy are streaming on Hulu.