Entertainment TV Reality TV 'Glee' Alum Harry Shum Jr. Joins Season 19 of 'Grey's Anatomy' Shum will play Daniel "Blue" Kwan in the upcoming 19th season of the ABC medical drama By Christina Dugan Ramirez Christina Dugan Ramirez Christina Dugan Ramirez is a former writer and reporter at PEOPLE. People Editorial Guidelines Published on July 27, 2022 02:37PM EDT Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images There's a new (familiar!) face coming to Grey's Anatomy! Glee alum Harry Shum Jr. will be joining the upcoming 19th season of the ABC medical drama, set to premiere this fall. The Crazy Rich Asians actor will play Daniel "Blue" Kwan, "a sharp-witted, impatient, and brilliant first-year surgical resident at Grey Sloan," according to a release. "He's generous by nature but competitive to a fault, naturally gifted, and used to winning at everything. A family crisis interfered with his career plans and now he's got a lot to prove." Shum, 40, joins new cast members cast Adelaide Kane, Alexis Floyd, Niko Terho and Midori Francis — all of whom will play first-year surgical residents at Grey Sloan Memorial. During the season 18 finale in May, the Grey Sloan Memorial's residency program was shut down by the review board leaving quite a few residents orphaned — including Levi Schmitt (Jake Borelli), Taryn Helm (Jaicy Elliot) and Mabel Tsang (Sylvia Kwan). Everything to Know About Grey's Anatomy Season 19 The end of season 18 also saw Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) quit as Chief of Surgery, leaving Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) in charge. "I have to protect my health and my sanity first, so I quit," Bailey told Meredith and a visiting Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams). "I'm done. No notice. Pru and I have cookies to make. You heard me right: cookies." Ellen Pompeo Addresses the Possibility of Grey's Anatomy Continuing Without Her: 'We'll See' Pompeo sparked rumors of a departure last season. In May, she discussed the possibility of her character's namesake series continuing without her. "Trying to reinvent the show and continually trying to reinvent the show is the challenge at this point, and listen, the show speaks to a lot of people, and the young people love the show," she told Entertainment Tonight. "It's inspired so many generations of healthcare workers. So, I think for the young people, it's a really good piece of content and we're going to try to keep it going for the young people — not necessarily with me, but keep it going beyond me," she said. Liliane Lathan/ABC via Getty Grey's Anatomy: Meredith Grey Stays in Seattle — but So Many Others Leave in the 400th Episode Pompeo told PEOPLE during the show's 400th episode party on May 6: "I've had three children and I got married and I've turned into a completely different person doing the show," so it seemed like she was ready to move on. "I'm not saying I'll never act again, I very well may, but I'm not super excited about continuing my acting career," she said on the Ladies First with Laura Brown podcast last December. She continued, "The acting, even though I haven't done a million different roles, I feel like I've done it. ... I have no desire to go sit in trailers at 11 o'clock at night and wait to shoot scenes and have ADs knock on my door and tell me when I can eat lunch. You know, it's for the young at heart. It's for the youth!" For now, Pompeo and her remaining OG Grey's stars — Wilson and James Pickens Jr. — were all mentioned as returning in creator Shonda Rhimes' statement when the show was renewed in January. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday. Grey's Anatomy will return to ABC in the fall.