16 stars you forgot were on “Grey's Anatomy” before their big break (including future Oscar nominees)

Grey's Anatomy has employed thousands of guest stars over its 20-plus seasons on the air, so it's logical that there would be some famous faces among them. While the halls of Seattle Grace/Grey Sloan Memorial have seen such established stars as Faye Dunaway or Geena Davis, numerous guests who were far from A-listers at the time have shown up on the medical drama. Most are one-off hospital patient roles, but some recurring medical professionals on the show should be instantly recognizable.

So, as you watch (or rewatch) Grey's, be on the lookout for these notable guest stars before they were famous.

Tessa Thompson

Before she was an indie darling or a Marvel hero, Tessa Thompson appeared in the final episodes of Grey's Anatomy's second season — "Deterioration of the Fight or Flight Response" and "Losing My Religion" — in 2006. Thompson played Camille Travis, Richard's (James Pickens Jr.) niece who was brought into Seattle Grace after losing consciousness during sexual intercourse on her prom night.

Kyle Chandler

He wasn't always Coach Taylor! Kyle Chandler picked up some Grey's credits in 2006 and 2007 (just as Friday Night Lights was heating up), when he appeared as Dylan Young, the leader of a bomb squad, in the season 2 episodes "It's the End of the World" and "As We Know It," then season 3's "Drowning on Dry Land" and "Some Kind of Miracle." Chandler’s character famously did not survive his time on the show.

Related: The 31 best Grey's Anatomy episodes to guide your next rewatch binge

Leslie Odom Jr.

Leslie Odom Jr. had to wait for the chance to play Hamilton's Aaron Burr, appearing in the season 5 episode "There's No 'I' in Team" in 2008. The future Tony winner/Oscar nominee played P.J. Walling, who joined a domino kidney transplant to help his ailing father.

Elisabeth Moss

Just a few months before the premiere of Mad Men in 2007, Elisabeth Moss appeared in "My Favorite Mistake," a season 3 episode of Grey's. Playing Nina, a woman whose mother had a rare bone condition, Moss tapped into her trademark tenacity as she did whatever she could to protect her.

Jesse Plemons

In 2006, future Friday Night Lights star and Oscar nominee Jesse Plemons had a role in the season 2 episode "Yesterday." The actor played Jake Burton, a teenage boy with craniodiaphyseal dysplasia who was diagnosed with a brain tumor and underwent surgery, during which he died.

Maggie Siff

Pre-Sons of Anarchy and Billions, Maggie Siff showed up in the season 4 episode "The Heart of the Matter" in 2007. Siff portrayed Ruthie, a young woman admitted to the hospital with a crushed ankle. Tests revealed she had early osteoporosis stemming from extreme dieting, leading to a surgery she did not survive.

Katie Lowes

Katie Lowes had already appeared on Private Practice when she picked up a role as a prospective blood donor on Grey's in the 2011 season 7 episode "Unaccompanied Minor." She stayed in the Shondaland family when she took on the role of Quinn Perkins on Scandal the very next year.

Bellamy Young

Speaking of Scandal, Bellamy Young made her Shondaland debut in the two-part season 3 episode "The Other Side of This Life" in 2007. She appeared as Kathy, a woman who has sustained multiple athletics-related injuries. Her lack of an active sex life with her husband is what led her to intense exercise, though it turned out that her husband had a tumor on his adrenal gland, which is what caused his erectile dysfunction.

Related: The many players in the Shondaland Repertory Theater

Dylan Minnette

Yes, this is that Dylan Minnette. The 13 Reasons Why star showed up on Grey's in the season 4 episode "Haunt You Every Day" in 2007. Minnette played Ryan, a boy with no external ear despite being able to hear. He requested Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) to build him ears free of charge, which the doctor was able to do.

Millie Bobby Brown

In 2015, just one year before she entered the Upside Down on Stranger Things, Millie Bobby Brown played Ruby in the season 11 episode "I Feel the Earth Move." After her mother hit her head at a remote cabin during an earthquake, Ruby called the hospital, where Owen (Kevin McKidd) instructed her over the phone to take various steps to try and save her.

Mae Whitman

Pre-Parenthood, Mae Whitman cut her TV teeth in the season 3 two-parter "Six Days." Whitman played Heather, a patient with advanced scoliosis being treated for kidney stones and hoping to regain the ability to walk upright. After complications with insurance, she finally had surgery that greatly improved her symptoms.

Dean Norris

Dean Norris had built himself a solid career prior to his two-episode arc as the friend of a car accident victim in the Grey's season 3 episodes "Walk on Water" and "Drowning on Dry Land" in 2007. But it's now impossible to separate him from Hank Schrader on Breaking Bad, which premiered a year later.

Alexandra Billings

In 2006, future Transparent favorite Alexandra Billings picked up a credit in the season 3 episode "Where the Boys Are." Billings played Donna, a trans woman hoping for a vaginoplasty to further her transition. Mark discovered during tests that Donna had breast cancer, exacerbated by her hormone treatment, and, while she was advised to stop taking hormones to fight the cancer, she chose to go through with the surgery so she could live as her authentic self.

Jamie Chung

Grey's Anatomy provided Jamie Chung with a stop on her road from Real World fame to an acting career, when she appeared in the season 7 episode "Adrift and at Peace" in 2010. The reality star-turned-actress portrayed Trina, a newlywed with a torn ear after she and her husband fell into a ravine while on their honeymoon.

Michaela Watkins

Long before she starred on Casual, Michaela Watkins booked a role in the season 3 episode "Superstition" in 2006. Fittingly, Watkins played a superstitious woman named Nikki, who climbed a tree that was struck by lightning, causing her to fall. She adamantly refused surgery for a splenic laceration due to the number of deaths that had also occurred that day and waited until it was too late for the doctors to save her.

Sarah Paulson

Sarah Paulson was somewhat recognizable before her Grey's Anatomy appearance in 2010, but she hadn't quite become the Emmy/Tony-winning household name she is today. The American Horror Story alum played the younger version of Dr. Ellis Grey in a flashback in the season 6 episode "The Time Warp."

Related: The 10 best medical shows ever

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