Culture 3 min read By Mason Emerson
Karla Souza cast as lead in new Grey's Anatomy spinoff set in Texas
How to Get Away with Murder alum Karla Souza will star as a cynical, haunted doctor in the untitled Grey's Anatomy spinoff, which has been pushed back to the 2027-2028 season.
Karla Souza has been cast as the lead in the untitled Grey's Anatomy spinoff, ABC's latest expansion of the long-running medical drama. Souza, best known for her role in How to Get Away with Murder, is the first actor announced for the project, and her casting sets the tone for a series that moves the franchise's familiar hospital setting to a very different part of the country.
Souza will play Lina Hall, a cynical and haunted doctor who runs a medical center in a small West Texas town. The character is the anchor of the new series. Unlike the sprawling, high-pressure environment of the Seattle hospital at the center of the original show, Hall's practice serves a small community, and the spinoff is built around the pressures of running a clinic far from the big-city resources that define Grey's Anatomy. Souza's role is the first concrete detail the production has revealed about who will carry the show.
The series is produced by 20th Television and executive produced by Shonda Rhimes, the creator of Grey's Anatomy. Rhimes's involvement links the spinoff directly to the franchise she built, which has run on ABC for two decades and spawned the related series Private Practice. Other executive producers include Betsy Beers, Meg Marinis and Ellen Pompeo, who stars in the original series. Pompeo's credit as an executive producer connects the new project to the cast and creative team that has long defined the franchise. The project was announced at ABC in May.
The spinoff was originally intended to launch in the 2026-2027 season. That timeline has now shifted to the 2027-2028 season, a delay that followed the loss of a California television tax credit. Tax incentives of this kind have been a significant factor in where and when scripted series are filmed and produced, and the loss of the credit forced the production to adjust its schedule. The production has not yet decided on a title, and the remaining cast members have not been announced. The final launch timing is still subject to change.
Souza's casting marks a notable step for an actor whose profile was built largely on network drama. How to Get Away with Murder gave her a recognizable television footprint, and placing her at the center of a Grey's Anatomy extension puts her in one of the most closely watched franchise projects on broadcast television. Further casting and a formal title are expected to follow as development continues, and the production's next announcements will show how much of the original series's ensemble approach carries over to the Texas setting.
Source: tvline.com
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