Sarah Drew Turns 46 Today: From April Kepner to a New Chapter Beyond Grey’s Anatomy
For Grey’s Anatomy fans, Sarah Drew can trigger an entire emotional history with two words:
April Kepner.
The red-haired surgical resident who arrived from Mercy West was initially anxious, overly organized and easy for some of her colleagues to dismiss.
Then the character grew.
She became a trauma surgeon.
A best friend.
A wife.
A mother.
A woman wrestling with faith.
A doctor processing unimaginable loss.
A survivor.
And one half of one of Grey’s Anatomy’s most passionate fan-favorite relationships.
But Sarah Drew’s career is much larger than April Kepner.
Born on October 1, 1980, in Stony Brook, New York, Sarah Drew celebrates her 46th birthday today, October 1, 2026. Before Grey’s Anatomy, she voiced Stacy Rowe in Daria and became a familiar face as Hannah Rogers in Everwood. Since leaving regular duty at Grey Sloan Memorial, she has expanded increasingly into writing, directing, producing, romantic dramas and mystery television.
And 2026 finds her firmly in another major television chapter.
Drew currently stars as Emily Lane in Hallmark’s Mistletoe Murders, which returns for its third season on November 5, 2026. She also serves as an executive producer on the series.
So while millions may always see a little April Kepner when Sarah Drew appears onscreen, her career at 46 tells a much broader story:
one about an actress gradually turning herself into a genuine creative multi-hyphenate.
Sarah Drew Was Performing Long Before Grey’s Anatomy
Drew grew up in Stony Brook, New York, and eventually studied drama at the University of Virginia, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 2002.
Her early career did not begin with medical drama.
It began with animation.
While still young, Drew landed the voice role of Stacy Rowe on MTV’s Daria.
That means viewers were hearing Sarah Drew years before many of them knew what she looked like.
Yes, Sarah Drew Was Stacy Rowe in Daria
Stacy Rowe belonged to the Fashion Club surrounding Daria’s younger sister Quinn.
Compared with some of the sharper personalities around her, Stacy was nervous, eager to please and frequently worried about what everyone else thought.
Drew voiced the character throughout the show’s run and also contributed to the Daria television movies.
Apple’s biography of Drew specifically identifies Stacy Rowe as her first major entertainment-industry work and notes that she continued recording for the series while attending college.
In retrospect, there is something amusing about the connection.
Long before April Kepner became famous for anxiety, rapid-fire speech and desperate attempts to keep everything under control, Sarah Drew had already voiced another sweet, high-strung character trying very hard to fit in.
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Theatre Came Next
Drew’s training was not limited to television.
Hallmark’s official biography notes that during university she landed the leading role of Juliet in a production of Romeo and Juliet at the McCarter Theatre Center.
The strong response helped open professional doors.
She subsequently appeared on Broadway in Vincent in Brixton, and the production later took her to London’s West End.
That theatrical background helps explain something viewers would later notice repeatedly.
Drew can handle dialogue-heavy emotional scenes.
She is comfortable allowing a character to be messy.
She can move rapidly between humor and distress without making the transition feel artificial.
Those skills would become especially valuable in Shondaland.
But first came Everwood.
Everwood Introduced Sarah Drew to a Wider Television Audience
In 2004, Drew joined The WB drama Everwood as Hannah Rogers.
The series followed Dr. Andy Brown, played by Treat Williams, who moved his family from New York to the small Colorado town of Everwood after the death of his wife.
Drew’s Hannah entered the series later and developed into an important member of the younger ensemble.
She was shy.
Intelligent.
Religious.
Emotionally guarded.
And eventually romantically linked with Bright Abbott, played by Chris Pratt.
Drew appeared as Hannah during the show’s third and fourth seasons.
For viewers who discovered her through Everwood, Hannah may still be the role that first established Drew’s particular screen identity.
Warmth mixed with awkwardness.
Strong principles mixed with uncertainty.
And an ability to make sincerity feel compelling rather than dull.
Those qualities would eventually become central to April Kepner too.
Sarah Drew Was Already Building a Strong TV Résumé
Between Everwood and Grey’s Anatomy, Drew appeared across numerous television series.
Her credits include shows such as:
Mad Men,
Private Practice,
Supernatural,
Glee,
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,
and Cold Case.
She also appeared in films including Radio with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Ed Harris.
But nothing had the career-changing effect of the role that arrived in 2009.
April Kepner Entered Grey’s Anatomy in Season 6
April Kepner arrived during one of Grey’s Anatomy’s major institutional changes.
Seattle Grace Hospital merged with Mercy West.
That merger brought several unfamiliar doctors into the lives of Meredith Grey and the existing residents.
Among them were:
Jackson Avery.
Reed Adamson.
Charles Percy.
And April Kepner.
ABC’s own character history confirms that April first appeared in Season 6 as part of the Mercy West merger.
At first, she did not look like someone destined to become one of the show’s longest-lasting emotional anchors.
That may be exactly why the character worked.
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April Was Not Designed to Be Effortlessly Cool
April was nervous.
Competitive.
Overprepared.
Sometimes irritating.
She carried notebooks.
She cared about rules.
She talked quickly when anxious.
She wanted approval.
She made mistakes.
And she did not possess the effortless confidence of characters like Cristina Yang or Jackson Avery.
That gave Drew somewhere to go.
April’s early insecurity made her later competence far more satisfying.
Fans could watch her becoming a surgeon rather than simply being told she was already brilliant.
And Sarah Drew never seemed frightened by the possibility that viewers might find April annoying.
She committed to the awkwardness.
That honesty eventually made the character more human.
April Was Fired—and Came Back
April’s professional journey began badly.
She made an error during a chaotic case and lost her job.
Later, she returned.
That cycle of failure and recovery became fundamental to her character.
April was not someone for whom professional confidence arrived naturally.
She had to earn it repeatedly.
Her story involved setbacks, embarrassment, board examinations, leadership responsibilities and eventually becoming a highly capable trauma surgeon.
Shondaland later described April’s evolution from a wide-eyed resident into a trauma surgeon as one of the defining elements of Drew’s nine-season run.
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Then Jackson Avery Changed Everything
April’s relationship with Jackson Avery, played by Jesse Williams, eventually became one of the most discussed romances in the entire series.
Fans gave the couple a name:
Japril.
But what made the relationship effective was that it did not begin as an obvious love story.
April and Jackson were friends first.
They arrived from Mercy West together.
They survived enormous professional and personal changes.
They understood each other before either treated the other as a romantic destiny.
Then, in Season 8, that friendship changed.
The Night Before the Boards Changed Japril Forever
Before taking their medical board examinations, April and Jackson ended up crossing the line from friendship into something more.
ABC’s own retrospective places their first sexual encounter during Season 8, Episode 21, “Moment of Truth.”
For April, the moment was complicated by her Christian faith and her long commitment to remaining a virgin.
That introduced a theme that would remain central to her character for years:
faith versus lived reality.
April believed certain things deeply.
But she was also human.
Her desires, mistakes and relationships did not always fit neatly inside the rules she thought she was supposed to follow.
Sarah Drew played those contradictions without turning April into a caricature of religious belief.
April Kepner’s Faith Was Unusual for Network Television
Religion often appears in television only at extremes.
Characters are either devout stereotypes or people who rarely discuss belief at all.
April was different.
Her faith mattered sincerely.
It shaped:
her sexuality,
her understanding of marriage,
her response to death,
her sense of identity,
and eventually her deepest crises.
But the show also allowed her to question that faith.
That made the character more interesting.
April could believe intensely and still become angry with God.
She could follow rules and then break them.
She could experience doubt without instantly abandoning everything she believed.
For many viewers, that complexity made her one of Grey’s Anatomy’s most distinctive characters.
Then Jackson Stood Up at April’s Wedding
Few Grey’s Anatomy romantic moments became more iconic.
April was preparing to marry paramedic Matthew Taylor.
Jackson was sitting in the audience.
Then he stood.
And declared that he loved her.
ABC’s relationship retrospective confirms the sequence: Jackson interrupted April’s wedding, confessed his feelings, and April eventually ran away with him.
It was chaotic.
Unfair to the people they were dating.
Extremely dramatic.
And completely Grey’s Anatomy.
Then Jackson and April did something even more dramatic.
They eloped.
Marriage Did Not Make Japril Simple
Once together, April and Jackson discovered something relationships often hide during the romantic build-up:
loving someone does not erase fundamental differences.
April was deeply religious.
Jackson was not.
Their ideas about faith and family sometimes clashed.
They loved one another but did not always know how to occupy the same emotional world.
Then came one of the most devastating storylines Sarah Drew ever performed.
Samuel Changed April and Jackson Forever
April became pregnant with their first child.
Then doctors discovered that the baby had type II osteogenesis imperfecta, a severe and fatal skeletal disorder.
Their son, Samuel Norbert Avery, lived only a short time after birth. ABC’s own account of April and Jackson’s relationship identifies Samuel’s diagnosis and death as the tragedy that permanently altered their marriage.
The storyline gave Drew and Williams some of the most painful material either actor received during the series.
There was no magical medical rescue.
No twist.
No miracle.
April and Jackson had to become parents knowing they were also about to lose their son.
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Sarah Drew’s Performance After Samuel’s Death Was Some of Her Best Work
April did not process grief in the way Jackson needed her to.
She left.
She joined Owen Hunt in providing medical care in a war zone.
She stayed longer than expected.
Then returned changed.
Jackson wanted to grieve together.
April needed distance and purpose.
Neither response was presented as simply correct.
But the difference eventually fractured their marriage.
ABC’s retrospective on their relationship traces exactly that divide: April kept returning to overseas medical work while Jackson increasingly felt abandoned.
It was painful precisely because both characters remained understandable.
Sometimes love cannot make two grieving people need the same thing.
Japril Divorced
By Season 12, Jackson and April’s marriage had reached its end.
They signed divorce papers.
And then Grey’s Anatomy delivered the kind of timing for which it is famous.
April discovered she was pregnant again.
ABC’s official recap of “Unbreak My Heart” confirms that April learned about the pregnancy the same day their divorce became final.
The child would become Harriet Kepner-Avery.
And that ensured April and Jackson could never simply disappear from one another’s lives.
They were divorced.
But still family.
Harriet Gave Japril a Different Kind of Relationship
April gave birth to Harriet during another wonderfully chaotic Grey’s Anatomy sequence.
She went into labor away from the hospital, with Ben Warren ultimately helping deliver the baby.
Afterward, April and Jackson became co-parents.
That gave their relationship a new maturity.
They were no longer trying to force themselves into marriage.
They had to learn how to raise a daughter together.
For Japril fans, the romantic possibility never completely disappeared.
But for a while, the show allowed friendship and co-parenting to matter on their own.
April’s Crisis of Faith Became Another Defining Arc
Later in the series, April faced another profound crisis.
Repeated exposure to suffering challenged the worldview that had anchored her for years.
She questioned whether life had meaning.
Whether God cared.
Whether her faith had given her false certainty.
For a character introduced partly through her religious convictions, this was enormous.
And for Drew, it created material far removed from April’s early comic awkwardness.
The woman who once worried intensely about breaking rules had become someone capable of confronting the deepest assumptions around which she had built her life.
That development is one reason April’s long arc remains so satisfying.
April Nearly Died
By Season 14, April’s story had moved through enormous territory.
Then came a terrifying accident.
She suffered life-threatening injuries and severe hypothermia.
For a period, her colleagues feared she might die.
She survived.
The near-death experience helped bring several emotional threads together and set up April’s eventual departure from regular hospital life.
At the end of Season 14, she left Grey Sloan as a full-time doctor to pursue work serving vulnerable communities.
She also remarried Matthew.
Sarah Drew exited as a series regular.
But April Kepner’s story was not actually finished.
Sarah Drew Left Grey’s Anatomy After Season 14
Drew’s departure became emotional for fans because April had evolved from a potentially disposable supporting character into one of the show’s major figures.
Shondaland later noted that what began as a short arc eventually developed into nine seasons for Drew.
That longevity matters.
April was not introduced in the show's original cast.
She arrived years later.
And yet she became so central that viewers eventually struggled to imagine Grey’s Anatomy without her.
Drew left in 2018.
Then Japril fans kept hoping.
And eventually the show opened the door again.
April Returned When Jackson Prepared to Leave Seattle
Sarah Drew returned to Grey’s Anatomy in 2021.
Jackson Avery had decided to leave Seattle for Boston, where he planned to take a more active role in the Catherine Fox Foundation.
Before leaving, he visited April.
ABC reported that the reunion would reconnect the two characters years after Drew’s Season 14 exit.
By then, April revealed that her marriage to Matthew had ended.
Jackson asked whether she and Harriet would move to Boston too.
She agreed.
Japril fans noticed immediately.
The writers had just put them in the same city again.
And Then Grey’s Anatomy Finally Gave Japril Fans Their Answer
Drew and Williams returned once more for the Season 18 finale in 2022.
This time, the ambiguity was largely gone.
Shondaland’s interview with Drew explicitly noted that the finale confirmed what many fans had hoped after the Boston move:
April and Jackson had found their way back to one another.
After friendship.
Sex.
Faith conflicts.
A wedding interruption.
Marriage.
The death of their son.
Separation.
Divorce.
Co-parenting.
Other relationships.
And years apart.
Japril came full circle.
Few television romances earn that much narrative mileage.
Why Japril Worked
April and Jackson were not compelling because they were uncomplicated soulmates.
They were compelling because they were often badly matched.
Their differences mattered.
April’s religion mattered.
Jackson’s skepticism mattered.
Their grief mattered.
Their family backgrounds mattered.
Their timing was frequently terrible.
The relationship repeatedly asked whether love is enough when two people experience life differently.
Sometimes the answer was no.
Then later, perhaps after both had changed enough, the answer became yes again.
That is far more interesting than a romance that works simply because two attractive television characters are placed together.
Grey’s Anatomy Also Gave Sarah Drew Her Directorial Start
Drew’s relationship with Grey’s Anatomy eventually moved behind the camera too.
She made her directing debut on Grey’s Anatomy: B-Team, a short-form digital spin-off following interns at Grey Sloan Memorial.
The project went on to receive a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series in 2018.
That experience became an early sign that Drew was interested in more than acting.
After leaving the main series, she increasingly developed projects in which she could participate creatively from the beginning.
She Refused to Treat Leaving Grey’s Anatomy as the End
For an actor who spends nearly a decade on one enormously successful television show, leaving can be frightening.
That character becomes the career.
Audiences associate your face with one name.
Casting directors may struggle to see anything else.
Drew responded by diversifying.
She acted.
Produced.
Wrote.
Directed.
Returned to romantic movies.
Took dramatic roles.
Worked with Lifetime.
Worked with Hallmark.
Appeared in streaming series.
Rather than trying to find another April Kepner, she gradually built a career in which she had more control over the material itself.
Indivisible Put Drew Into Producing
In the 2018 drama Indivisible, Drew starred as Heather Turner and also served as an executive producer.
Hallmark’s current biography includes the film among her notable acting and producing credits.
That transition matters because producing allows an actor to influence far more than performance.
Story development.
Casting.
Scheduling.
Tone.
Creative priorities.
Drew increasingly moved toward that kind of ownership.
Holiday Movies Became a New Creative Home
Sarah Drew became a familiar presence in seasonal romance films.
Her credits include:
Christmas Pen Pals,
Twinkle All the Way,
Christmas in Vienna,
Reindeer Games Homecoming,
A Cowboy Christmas Romance,
and A Carpenter Christmas Romance.
These projects may look far removed from the high-stakes medical tragedy of Grey’s Anatomy.
In one sense, they are.
Nobody is performing emergency surgery while navigating a catastrophic relationship collapse.
But romantic movies use many of Drew’s strongest qualities:
warmth,
comedic timing,
vulnerability,
and an ability to make highly sentimental material feel sincere.
Then she started writing them herself.
Reindeer Games Homecoming Was Sarah Drew’s Screenwriting Debut
In 2022, Drew wrote and starred in Reindeer Games Homecoming for Lifetime.
She also served as executive producer.
The film reunited her with Justin Bruening, who had played Matthew Taylor on Grey’s Anatomy.
Drew played MacKenzie Graves, a competitive Vermont biology teacher participating in a local Christmas fundraising tradition.
Bruening played her former high-school crush, now a Hollywood actor.
Behind the camera, however, the project represented something much more important.
It was Drew’s first produced feature screenplay.
In Lifetime’s interview, Drew described the writing experience as exhilarating and admitted she initially was not even sure whether she could write the script herself.
She could.
And it changed the direction of her career.
She Kept Writing
Drew followed Reindeer Games Homecoming by writing and executive producing A Cowboy Christmas Romance in 2023.
She then wrote and executive produced A Carpenter Christmas Romance in 2024.
Hallmark’s official biography now describes Drew as an actor, producer, writer and director rather than simply an actress.
That may be the most significant post-Grey’s Anatomy development.
The series gave her fame.
Leaving it gave her space to discover what else she wanted to make.
Her Career Expanded Beyond Holiday Romance Too
Drew continued appearing in more dramatic and family-oriented projects.
She played Sarah Brown in Apple TV+’s Amber Brown, Bonnie Hunt’s adaptation of Paula Danziger’s popular book series. Apple’s official production page lists Drew as the mother of the title character, played by Carsyn Rose.
She also appeared in Freeform’s Cruel Summer.
Other recent films include:
Stolen by Their Father,
Guiding Emily,
The Girl Who Caught a Killer,
Birthright Outlaw,
and Branching Out.
For her performance in Stolen by Their Father, she received a Canadian Screen Award nomination.
Then came a project that blended two increasingly important parts of her career:
mystery television and Christmas storytelling.
Mistletoe Murders Gave Sarah Drew a New Signature Role
In Mistletoe Murders, Drew plays Emily Lane.
On the surface, Emily owns a Christmas-themed shop in the small community of Fletcher’s Grove.
But she has a hidden past.
When suspicious deaths begin occurring around town, Emily uses skills from that mysterious earlier life to investigate.
Detective Sam Wilner, played by Peter Mooney, increasingly becomes both a professional complication and a romantic possibility.
Hallmark describes Emily as a good-natured Christmas shop owner whose secret background gives her unusual investigative abilities.
In other words:
cozy Christmas charm meets murder mystery.
And Sarah Drew somehow fits perfectly between them.
Emily Lane Is Very Different From April Kepner
April wears her emotions openly.
Emily does not.
April often talks when she is nervous.
Emily hides.
April’s history became familiar to viewers over many seasons.
Emily’s history is deliberately mysterious.
That contrast gives Drew another chance to show range within television.
She can still bring the warmth audiences associate with her.
But now the warmth sits on top of something hidden.
Emily knows more than she says.
And the series gradually reveals why.
Mistletoe Murders Is Now Heading Into Season 3
The show has become more than a one-off seasonal experiment.
Hallmark officially renewed Mistletoe Murders for Season 3, and the network now lists its premiere for Thursday, November 5, 2026.
Drew remains both the star and an executive producer.
The second season left Emily’s personal history and romantic life in a complicated place, creating a significant cliffhanger going into the new episodes.
So on her 46th birthday, Sarah Drew is not merely looking back at Grey’s Anatomy.
She is preparing to lead another returning television series.
She Is Also Playing Hedda Hopper in Jimmy
Drew’s upcoming work includes Jimmy, a biographical drama about James Stewart.
KJ Apa plays Stewart, while Drew portrays legendary Hollywood gossip columnist and actress Hedda Hopper.
The film also features actors including Jason Alexander, Neal McDonough, Christopher McDonald and Max Casella.
Current release listings place Jimmy in theaters on November 6, 2026.
That gives Drew an interesting November.
One day after Mistletoe Murders begins its third season, audiences are also scheduled to see her playing one of old Hollywood’s most famous media personalities.
Sarah Drew’s Career Is Now About Creative Control
At 46, the most interesting part of Drew’s career is no longer simply which television role she books next.
It is how much of the work she now helps create.
Actor.
Writer.
Producer.
Director.
Executive producer.
These roles change the balance of power.
An actress waits to be cast.
A writer creates the character.
A producer helps decide what gets made.
A director determines how the story appears onscreen.
Drew has gradually moved into all four spaces.
That evolution would have been difficult to predict when April Kepner first appeared as an anxious Mercy West resident.
April Kepner Still Matters Deeply to Her
Moving forward has never required Drew to pretend Grey’s Anatomy does not matter.
Quite the opposite.
In her 2022 Shondaland interview, Drew described April as being almost like a sister and openly acknowledged how much the character contributed to the creative freedom she later enjoyed.
That relationship feels unusually healthy.
Some actors spend years trying to escape the role that made them famous.
Drew appears to understand that April opened doors.
She can love the character without needing to play her forever.
And because April is still alive within the Grey’s Anatomy universe, the possibility of another appearance can never be completely dismissed.
Why April Kepner Remains Beloved
April was imperfect in unusually visible ways.
She failed.
She panicked.
She cried.
She made terrible romantic decisions.
She judged herself.
She doubted God.
She hurt people she loved.
She survived grief badly before learning how to survive it at all.
And she kept going.
That is probably why the character became more popular as the years passed.
The April introduced during the Mercy West merger was easy to underestimate.
The April who eventually left Grey Sloan had lived through enough to fill several different television characters.
Sarah Drew made that transformation believable.
Japril Became Bigger Than a Normal TV Romance
Fans did not stay invested in Jackson and April simply because they had chemistry.
They stayed invested because the story stretched across years of genuine change.
Friends.
Lovers.
Other partners.
A disrupted wedding.
Marriage.
Parenthood.
Loss.
Separation.
Divorce.
Co-parenting.
Different marriages.
Boston.
Reconciliation.
Few television couples receive that much narrative history.
And because Drew and Williams repeatedly returned to those roles after their regular exits, viewers eventually received something rare:
an ending that felt connected to everything that came before.
Everwood Fans Remember a Different Sarah Drew
For another generation of viewers, though, the attachment began earlier.
Hannah Rogers represented a softer beginning.
She was sensitive, nervous and deeply earnest.
She struggled socially.
She developed feelings for Bright.
She worried about family.
She brought a quieter emotional energy to Everwood.
Looking back, Hannah feels almost like an early sketch of the qualities Drew would later bring to April:
vulnerability without weakness.
Faith without simplicity.
Awkwardness without losing dignity.
Daria Fans Can Claim They Were There First
Then there are the viewers who recognized the voice of Stacy Rowe.
They get the deepest-cut bragging rights.
Before Hannah.
Before April.
Before Emily Lane.
Before the Christmas romances.
Sarah Drew was part of one of the sharpest animated comedies of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
That makes her career oddly interconnected with several generations of television nostalgia.
MTV animation.
The WB drama era.
ABC/Shondaland television.
Streaming.
Hallmark mysteries.
Few careers travel through those spaces so naturally.
At 46, Sarah Drew Is More Than the Character Who Made Her Famous
That may be the best birthday perspective.
April Kepner will remain central to Sarah Drew’s legacy.
She should.
It was an extraordinary nine-season character journey.
But Drew’s career after April has increasingly demonstrated that leaving a defining role does not have to mean trying to replace it with another equally famous one.
Sometimes the better move is expansion.
Write.
Produce.
Direct.
Lead smaller projects.
Build relationships with networks.
Create material that reflects the stories you actually want to tell.
That is what Drew has done.
Happy 46th Birthday, Sarah Drew
Sarah Drew turns 46 today, October 1, 2026, with a career that now spans almost three decades.
She voiced Stacy Rowe in Daria.
Played Hannah Rogers in Everwood.
Walked into Seattle Grace as an anxious Mercy West resident and transformed April Kepner into one of Grey’s Anatomy’s most memorable characters.
She helped turn Japril into a relationship fans still debate and celebrate years later.
She directed Grey’s Anatomy: B-Team.
She became a producer.
She became a screenwriter.
She built a second home in romantic and holiday films.
And now she leads and executive produces Mistletoe Murders, with Season 3 arriving in November 2026.
That is a satisfying evolution.
Sarah Drew once became famous for playing a doctor who spent years trying to figure out exactly who she was.
Away from Grey Sloan Memorial, Drew seems to have answered the same question creatively.
She is an actress.
But not only an actress.
She is a writer.
A director.
A producer.
A storyteller.
And at 46, she appears to have considerably more stories left to tell.
Happy birthday, Sarah Drew.
For Grey’s Anatomy fans, April Kepner will always be part of the celebration.
But Sarah Drew’s next chapter is already well underway.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is today Sarah Drew’s birthday?
Yes. Sarah Drew was born on October 1, 1980, making October 1 her birthday.
How old is Sarah Drew in 2026?
Sarah Drew turns 46 years old on October 1, 2026.
Where was Sarah Drew born?
She was born in Stony Brook, New York.
What is Sarah Drew best known for?
She is best known for playing Dr. April Kepner on Grey’s Anatomy and Hannah Rogers on Everwood.
When did Sarah Drew join Grey’s Anatomy?
April Kepner was introduced during Season 6, when Seattle Grace merged with Mercy West.
How many seasons was Sarah Drew on Grey’s Anatomy?
Hallmark and Shondaland biographies describe Drew as having played April across nine seasons of Grey’s Anatomy.
Who is April Kepner?
April Kepner is a surgeon introduced as a Mercy West resident who later becomes a trauma surgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial.
Who played Jackson Avery?
Jesse Williams played Dr. Jackson Avery.
What does “Japril” mean?
“Japril” is the fan-created couple name combining Jackson and April.
Did April and Jackson get married?
Yes. Jackson interrupted April’s wedding to Matthew, declared his love for her, and April left with him. Jackson and April subsequently eloped.
Who was April originally supposed to marry?
She was engaged to Matthew Taylor, a paramedic played by Justin Bruening.
What happened to April and Jackson’s first child?
Their son Samuel Norbert Avery was diagnosed with severe type II osteogenesis imperfecta and died shortly after birth.
Did April and Jackson have another child?
Yes. They later had a daughter named Harriet Kepner-Avery.
Did April and Jackson divorce?
Yes. Their marriage deteriorated after Samuel’s death and April’s extended overseas medical work. They finalized their divorce in Season 12.
Did April and Jackson eventually get back together?
Yes. After moving to Boston, their later Grey’s Anatomy appearance in the Season 18 finale confirmed that April and Jackson had reunited romantically.
When did Sarah Drew leave Grey’s Anatomy?
She left as a series regular at the end of Season 14 in 2018.
Did Sarah Drew ever return to Grey’s Anatomy?
Yes. She returned as April in 2021 for Jackson Avery’s departure storyline and again with Jesse Williams in the Season 18 finale in 2022.
Is April Kepner dead?
No. April is alive within the Grey’s Anatomy storyline and ultimately moved to Boston with Jackson and their daughter.
What role did Sarah Drew play in Everwood?
She played Hannah Rogers, who became romantically involved with Bright Abbott.
Who played Bright Abbott?
Bright was played by Chris Pratt.
Was Sarah Drew on Daria?
Yes. Drew voiced Stacy Rowe on MTV’s Daria.
When did Sarah Drew start voice acting on Daria?
Her work as Stacy Rowe began in the late 1990s, before her larger live-action television career.
Did Sarah Drew attend college?
Yes. She studied drama at the University of Virginia and graduated in 2002.
Did Sarah Drew work in theatre?
Yes. Her early stage work included playing Juliet at the McCarter Theatre Center and appearing in Vincent in Brixton on Broadway and later in London’s West End.
Was Sarah Drew in Mad Men?
Yes. She appeared as Kitty Romano in Mad Men.
Was Sarah Drew in Private Practice?
Yes. Drew guest-starred on Private Practice, the Grey’s Anatomy spin-off.
Was Sarah Drew in Supernatural?
Yes. She appeared in Supernatural before becoming a regular on Grey’s Anatomy.
Was Sarah Drew in Glee?
Yes. She guest-starred on Glee.
Did Sarah Drew direct Grey’s Anatomy?
Drew made her directorial debut with the short-form digital series Grey’s Anatomy: B-Team rather than a standard hour-long episode of the parent series.
Was Grey’s Anatomy: B-Team nominated for an Emmy?
Yes. It received a 2018 Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series.
Is Sarah Drew a writer?
Yes. Her first produced feature screenplay was Reindeer Games Homecoming in 2022.
Did Sarah Drew write Reindeer Games Homecoming?
Yes. She wrote the screenplay, starred as MacKenzie Graves and served as an executive producer.
Who stars with Sarah Drew in Reindeer Games Homecoming?
Her co-star is Justin Bruening, who also played Matthew Taylor on Grey’s Anatomy.
Did Sarah Drew write A Cowboy Christmas Romance?
Yes. Hallmark’s current biography credits her as writer and executive producer of the 2023 Lifetime film.
Did Sarah Drew write A Carpenter Christmas Romance?
Yes. She also wrote and executive produced the 2024 Lifetime movie.
Was Sarah Drew in Amber Brown?
Yes. She played Sarah Brown, Amber’s mother, in the Apple TV+ series.
What is Mistletoe Murders?
Mistletoe Murders is a Hallmark mystery series about Christmas shop owner Emily Lane, who uses skills from her mysterious past to investigate murders in Fletcher’s Grove.
Who does Sarah Drew play in Mistletoe Murders?
She plays Emily Lane, the series’ central character.
Is Sarah Drew a producer on Mistletoe Murders?
Yes. She serves as an executive producer in addition to starring in the series.
Is Mistletoe Murders returning for Season 3?
Yes. Hallmark has renewed the series for a third season.
When does Mistletoe Murders Season 3 premiere?
Hallmark currently lists November 5, 2026 as the Season 3 premiere date.
Who stars opposite Sarah Drew in Mistletoe Murders?
Peter Mooney plays Detective Sam Wilner.
What is Sarah Drew’s upcoming movie Jimmy?
Jimmy is a 2026 biographical drama about actor James Stewart. KJ Apa plays Stewart, while Drew portrays Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper.
When is Jimmy expected to be released?
Current listings place its theatrical release on November 6, 2026.
What makes Sarah Drew’s career different now?
While she remains an actress, Drew has increasingly moved into writing, directing, producing and executive producing, giving her greater creative control over the projects she develops.
Why is April Kepner still so popular?
April experienced one of Grey’s Anatomy’s largest character transformations—from an anxious Mercy West resident into a skilled trauma surgeon, wife, mother and survivor whose story explored faith, grief, love and resilience.
Why do Grey’s Anatomy fans still love Japril?
Jackson and April’s relationship developed over many seasons and included friendship, romance, marriage, parenthood, tragedy, divorce, co-parenting and eventual reconciliation, giving the couple far more history than a typical television romance.
What is Sarah Drew doing at 46?
As she turns 46, Drew is starring in and executive producing Mistletoe Murders, which returns for Season 3 in November 2026, while continuing to work as an actor, writer, producer and director.
