Midori Francis Starred in Beloved Netflix Show Before ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

Midori Francis joined Grey’s Anatomy at the beginning of Season 19 as intern Dr. Mika Yasuda, but before she was the overwhelmed, scrappy, yet motivated young doctor in training, Francis was actually on a Netflix series. The actress starred as the titular Lily in Netflix’s acclaimed rom-com series Dash & Lily, based on the YA novel Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.

The series follows two teenagers who open up to each other and develop feelings for one another as they trade messages and dares in a notebook around New York City. Austin Abrams portrayed Dash, with Dante Brown and Troy Iwata also starring in the show. The eight-episode first season premiered on the streamer in November 2020, but just a year later, Netflix confirmed the cancellation which definitely brought some disappointment to fans.

Dash & Lily actually had a pretty famous name attached to the project behind the scenes. For Image 32, Nick Jonas served as an executive producer alongside Brad Silberling, Shawn Levy, and Josh Barry from 21 Laps Entertainment, with Joe Tracz serving as showrunner, writer, and executive producer. Jonas, as well as his musician brothers, guest starred in the finale, “New Year’s Eve,” where they performed their Christmas song, “Like It’s Christmas.” So while the cancellation was hard to swallow, having the Jonas Brothers perform on the finale is a pretty great way to go out.

Aside from Grey’s and Dash & Lily, Midori Francis has had a pretty successful career thus far. She starred in the thriller Unseen, which came out earlier this year, Seasons 1 and 2 of Max’s The Sex Lives of College Girls, and Netflix’s Afterlife of the Party in 2021, among others. She is also going to be seen in the upcoming short My Only Friend Is a Robot Named Beans, which is in post-production, according to IMDb. 

Grey’s Anatomy is currently on hiatus, as its Season 19 finale aired last month. Due to ABC’s strike-proof fall schedule, where it will be filled with almost entirely unscripted series, the network’s entire scripted slate is being held off for midseason at the earliest, meaning that Dr. Yasuda won’t be coming back until sometime in early 2024. With no end in sight for the writers’ strike, there’s no way of knowing when ABC could announce its lineup or premiere dates for midseason, so fans will just have to keep a lookout. Luckily, the latest season of Grey’s will be hitting Netflix on June 17, so they will be able to do some rewatching or even checking out Dash & Lily.