Scott Speedman just scored himself a new TV role — but should Grey’s Anatomy fans worry about Nick’s future on the show?
It was announced on Wednesday, June 25, that Speedman landed the lead role on ABC’s RJ Decker pilot, according to TVLine. Based on Carl Hiaasen‘s novel Double Whammy, the series focuses on a disgraced newspaper photographer and ex-con who “starts over as a private investigator in the colorful-if-crime-filled world of South Florida, tackling cases that range from slightly odd to outright bizarre, with the help of his journalist ex, her police detective wife and a shadowy new benefactor — a woman from his past who could be his greatest ally … or his one-way ticket back to prison.”
The outlet noted that Speedman’s role as Nick Marsh on Grey’s Anatomy shouldn’t be impacted. If RJ Decker gets picked up, he’ll continue to have a recurring role on the medical drama .
Speedman, 49, originally joined Grey’s Anatomy as a guest star in season 14. He then appeared as a main cast member in seasons 18 and 19 as Meredith Grey’s (Ellen Pompeo) love interest before taking a break from the show. Speedman rejoined the cast as a recurring character in season 20 and has remained on Grey’s Anatomy since then.
“[The fans] have lots of thoughts. I thought it was gonna be a layup, me coming onto the show,” Speedman said on SiriusXM’s The Spotlight With Jessica Shaw in October 2024. “I’m not a big social media guy, but I remember going on after my first episodes debuted with her, and they tease like, ‘There’s this character coming back to the show.’”
He continued: “And the fans, you know, on social media were not … There was a lot of vomit emojis, which I was like, ‘Oh, alright, alright.’”
Speedman noted that all he could do was “laugh at” the public response, adding, “It’s really funny how serious they are about that character, and who’s with that character and who’s not with that character.”
While Speedman’s future on the show doesn’t seem to be changing, viewers are still waiting to find out who isn’t involved in season 22. During the season 21 finale in May, Piper Perabo played a mother of a patient who brought a highly flammable acetylene tank into the operating room to force Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) to perform a high-risk surgery to save her daughter.
Despite performing the operation successfully, the tank was accidentally opened, which let the flammable contents leak onto the operating floor. The final moments of the episode showed an explosion that only Meredith and Warren (Jason George) appeared to survive — for now.
While Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Meg Marinis wouldn’t confirm who was injured in the blast, she made it clear that almost no one is guaranteed to return for season 22.
“Well, I feel like a lot of people are probably sitting in operating rooms,” she told The Hollywood Reporter last month. “So unless you saw them and where they were when that explosion went off, I don’t think we can say anyone is necessarily safe.”