Grey's Anatomy's James Pickens Jr. Teases Season 21 Drama for Richard

Richard Webber will watch the women he loves fight Grey's Anatomy Season 21, in which wife Catherine Fox clashes with her protégé Meredith Grey.

“Well, obviously he's emotionally invested in both of them,” the actor said James Pickens Jr. told exclusively Us weekly about how Richard deals with the conflict while discussing Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and his partnership with Movember. “He's not going to be a referee per se, but I think he's there to handle this little tricky situation that they have. And I’m sure the audience will be really excited to see how this develops – but you know what I stand for.”

When the ABC medical drama ended last spring, Catherine (Debbie Allen) was angry when he found out that Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) pursued her Alzheimer's research behind her back and received help from the doctors at Gray Sloan Memorial. After Meredith defied orders and posted a summary online, Catherine began firing doctors, including Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone), Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) and Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd).

In the trailer for the season 21 premiere of “Grey's Anatomy,” airing Thursday, September 26, at 10 p.m. ET on ABC, Catherine is seen threatening Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), who slaps the philanthropist. Amid all the drama, Richard is once again thinking about retiring.

Related: Everything you need to know about Season 21 of Grey's Anatomy

Fans of “Grey’s Anatomy” desperately need season 21 – especially after the cliffhanger in the spring in which several doctors were fired. “I'm really excited for fans to see how we emerge from the end of last season,” Grey's showrunner Meg Marinis told Entertainment Weekly in September 2024. In the season 20 finale, Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) was fired […]

“He’s still hanging in there. “He’s working through some fears and some demons that he has with that, which we addressed at the end of last season,” Pickens, 69, teased. “With Winston’s help, we’ll continue where he’s struggling now [Ndugu, played by Anthony Hill] and some others. We’re really excited about that and there’s some momentum around some of the surgeons being laid off and what that will look like going forward.”

He added: “I think the premiere episode is going to be really good. September 26th. This is really good. I think the audience will be quite surprised by what happens.”

Pickens is one of three original cast members who appear regularly on the series, alongside Wilson and Pompeo. The latter speaks every week, but only appears on screen in a handful of episodes. He says the veterans try to welcome all new cast members with open arms, but Wilson is the one who makes them feel at home.

“Chandra Wilson, who plays Bailey, is just remarkable, warm and generous,” Pickens said Us. “I don't want to call her the mother of the cast, but she has this personality and this gift about her that makes everyone feel comfortable. She made a point of making sure that the new actors coming in felt like they were part of the family now and then they didn't have to go out of their way to do anything special or anything like that.”

His on-screen family isn't his only priority. Because of his off-screen family history, Pickens has teamed up with Movember, the world's leading men's health charity, to organize Prostate Cancer Awareness Month throughout September.

Related: The most famous Grey's Anatomy guest stars since Season 1

While several stars appeared on “Grey's Anatomy” for long stretches, others only guested for one episode. Demi Lovato, for example, got a one-off role in a season six episode. For her part, Millie Bobby Brown was relatively unknown when she appeared in a season 11 episode titled “I Feel the Earth Move.” Jeffrey Dean Morgan, on the other hand […]

“My father had prostate cancer. It didn't kill him, but he had it. I think he had two brothers who had it too,” Pickens shared with us. “So it was a duty for me to be hardworking [about] when I looked at my own health. I started being pretty proactive when I turned around, I guess around 50, and started having annual prostate exams.”

According to Movember, prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men in the United States, and one in eight American men will receive a positive diagnosis during their lifetime. Pickens added that people of color in particular are at higher risk for prostate cancer.

“I thought it was very important that we as Black people need to be made more aware of the role this disease plays in our community,” he added. “There is much more prevalence in the African American community.”

Join Movember.com to get resources and help save men's lives.