Ahead of the show's season 15 premiere, Grey's Anatomy dropped some unexpected but welcome news. The show announced it has cast its first openly gay male surgeon, Dr. Nico Kim, to be played by Alex Landi, TVLine reports.
Landi, who is of Korean and Italian descent, shared his excitement with the world on his Instagram, writing, "Very grateful. Thank you to everyone who has made this possible." A quick browse of Landi's feed will have you wishing he turns up in the Crazy Rich Asians sequel, and that the writers immediately dub him with an unforgettable nickname in the vein of McDreamy and McSteamy.
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The casting is also on par with Grey's Anatomy's track record with diversity casting and inclusion of diverse characters. The series warmed its way into the hearts of many when it featured a same-sex love story between Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) and Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw). The two married, divorced, and rekindled their relationship, all while co-parenting their daughter.
Reactions to the casting news were mixed on Twitter, with most fans lauding the series for writing in another LGBTQ+ character of color in the prominent role of a surgeon. Other, very irate fans questioned why the series is casting anyone at all after it wrote Capshaw and Sarah Drew out of the show last season. "So we lost two amazing actresses that were on the show for a decade because they had to make pay cutbacks- just so they could keep on the crappy new interns and hire a bunch of new actors promoting them to regulars?" questioned one commenter.
Like it or not, nickname or not, Landi and the rest of the cast will be scrubbing in when the series returns September 27 on ABC.
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