Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) and April Kepner (Sarah Drew) entered "Grey's Anatomy" as literal invaders on season six when Seattle Grace merged with Mercy West Hospital. By season 10, episode 12's "Get Up, Stand Up," when Jackson whisked April, his former best friend with benefits, away from her meticulously planned wedding to paramedic Matthew (Justin Bruening) so he and April could marry in Nevada, "
They're also the only couple on the show so far to have a trilogy of episodes centered on their journey. The first installment, season 12's 11th episode, "Unbreak My Heart," and fondly referred to by fans as "Japril the Movie," aired on February 25, 2016. It's a dramatic rewind of their relationship, from the moment they meet to sign divorce papers to the aftermath of April's deployment overseas to the death of their son Samuel to their wedding day. The flashbacks end on the day they met at Mercy West.
At the end of the hour, we learn that though the couple is divorced, April is pregnant again. "Unbreak My Heart" is a beginning of sorts for Jackson and April (affectionately known as "Japril"). Fans got some answers they'd been waiting on for years (like what Japril's wedding actually looked like). They were also given hope for a future that never came.
When Insider spoke to Drew and Williams during a joint interview in December, their passion for their characters was still clear, even though they exited "Grey's Anatomy" in 2018 and 2021, respectively.
It's enough passion to fuel a Netflix miniseries, if "Grey's Anatomy" creator Shonda Rhimes, ABC, or Disney were so inclined. A Japril spinoff isn't publicly in the works at the time of this writing, but the costars certainly made a case for one during the conversation, whether they meant to or not.
"There's 'Grey's Anatomy' scenes and there's Japril scenes," Williams said, explaining how he feels his and Drew's scenes stood apart from the show. "Our stuff was its own tunnel."
Drew, Williams, and "Grey's Anatomy" fans on social media have made clear that they'd enter said tunnel again if given the opportunity. But what would we find once inside?
Japril's love has lived in the margins of 'Grey's Anatomy' scripts for a long time
The costars, who would eventually become husband and wife onscreen, made their respective "Grey's Anatomy" debuts together on season six, episode five, "Invasion." Their characters don't exactly notice each other in a romantic or sexual way until about 2.5 seasons after that.
But if you pay close attention to their glances at each other on the edges of scenes, or the look on April's face as she smacks Jackson in the head for staring at one of Alex's (Justin Chambers) one-night stands, or Jackson's awkward pat of April's knee when she's melting down about the medical boards hours before their random, drunken first hookup — it's always evident that they care deeply about each other.
While most
"I remember you showed up with a whole marked-up script with script ideas," Drew laughed, recalling Williams' eagerness to get their first intimate scenes together during the medical boards on season eight right.
He conceded that his ideas didn't go over well at the time. "I got in trouble for that," he said.
After an agonizing "will they or won't they" plot that lasted a few years, Japril got married — but that doesn't mean they got to be happy. It's "Grey's Anatomy" after all.
Their love was genuine but their choice to get married was impulsive. So their newlywed phase was marred with fights where TV couples are usually allowed a bit of romance. Drew said that she and Williams worked hard to try and fill in gaps for the audience, some of which never came to fruition.
"We had a whole pitch for an entire series based on that road trip," Drew said of the few scenes we see of Japril traveling together to get married after April runs away from her wedding to Matthew. Williams confirmed that their series pitch is why "Unbreak My Heart" exists.
Soon after their wedding, a surprise pregnancy ended with an induction termination and their son, Samuel, died of a fatal type of osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease, a genetic bone disorder that is present at birth.
After Samuel's death on season 11, Jackson and April let grief tear them apart in strange ways instead of helping each other through the pain. April enlists in the army to run away from her problems and Jackson never forgives his wife for abandoning him at a time when he needed her most.
While Jackson and April eventually divorced, fans held out hope that it could have just been the beginning of a powerful reconciliation story about grief, forgiveness, and love. Unfortunately, that's not what they got.
Williams told Insider he and Drew 'carved' much of Japril's story, and particularly its 'Grey's Anatomy' ending, 'on our own'
Drew was asked to leave the hit medical drama at the end of season 14 in 2018 for "creative reasons" that showrunner Krista Vernoff did not specify in a 2018 statement to Deadline. For much of the two seasons prior to Drew's exit, many fans remained convinced that Jackson and April were on the verge of an eventual reconciliation, which made Drew's unexpected departure all the more frustrating.
Some of that unresolved romantic tension, whether written on the page or not, may have been because the costars worked hard to portray the natural emotion in Japril's complicated relationship no matter what, even when producers on the show may have wanted them to downplay it.
Drew recalled that she was asked to play April telling Jackson she wanted to move out of the apartment they shared to raise their daughter together in season 14 "with no emotion." She said she was grateful when Kevin McKidd, the director of that episode and her former costar, allowed her to do a take of the scene that was less cold.
Drew's interpretation of the scene is what made the final cut of the episode.
"Your body, when you're in pain, when you're acting in pain, if you're doing it authentically, you're in pain," Williams said, explaining why Japril's history mattered so much to him and Drew.
"And we have all of those memories, our body holds that, and so we're trying to honor that in the whole journey. So sometimes people need to be updated and reminded of that," he continued.
Williams left the show himself three seasons later, in 2021, and Drew returned so that the end of Jackson's journey on the show would make sense.
"That relationship — both just between the two of us as humans, but also the Japril relationship — is so meaningful to both of us," Drew previously said of her decision to reprise her role as April at a roundtable interview attended by Insider in May 2021. "It felt like the perfect time to come back and do a special episode to be able to help Jackson make his big departure."
In an email statement provided to Insider in February, Drew explained that even on Williams' final episodes, the costars worked to craft a Japril ending that would be "satisfying" for them and for Japril fans.
"The pitch that was given to me was April was super pregnant with Matthew's baby and Matthew wasn't home when Jackson came to the house to pitch April on the idea of going to Boston with him," Drew wrote of the original plot for April's return episode. "There was a storm outside and Jackson had to deliver April's baby at the house, and through this whole experience, April decided to bring her whole family to Boston with Jackson."
A completely different story made it onscreen on season 17's 14th episode, "Look Up, Child." Jackson shows up at April's house in the middle of a storm to ask her to move with their daughter to Boston — but she's not pregnant. We learn at the end of the episode that Matthew and April are getting a divorce. So, the exes, now both single, move to Boston with their daughter and hope for a future together.
"Jesse and I talked about it and thought it would be more satisfying to the audience if they were left with some hope for Japril reuniting," Drew wrote to Insider. "Jesse pitched that to the writers and the writers agreed — and then the story shifted."
Japril fans have 'earned' and 'deserve' a spinoff, Williams said
Williams told Insider in December that "Grey's Anatomy" was "really lucky to have us" while reflecting on the work he did with Drew. "We carved a lot of that on our own with tremendous support, but it was not like it had to be that way. We could have been lazier about it," he said.
Both actors have said in individual interviews that they would reprise their roles for a spinoff, should the opportunity arise.
At the aforementioned roundtable interview in May, Drew said Jackson and April "could change the world of medicine" together while living in Boston. They've moved there so that Jackson can lead his family's medical foundation with the goal of eliminating disparities in medical care for minorities.
Williams told Insider's Caralynn Lippo on the red carpet of the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2021 that a Japril spinoff in Boston "makes total sense" and that he and Drew "would kill it" if given the chance.
The actors have a very clear idea about what Japril's life in Boston raising their daughter, Harriet, would look like.
They said they're definitely working together to make change for underserved communities, because Jackson "has tons of money to give away," according to Drew, and April is "providing medical assistance to people that can't pay for it." It's a perfect professional match on paper.
As far as rekindling a romance, Williams thinks they're at least on the road to making it happen.
"They seem to be so grounded, and calm, and there's nothing really left to fight about," he told Insider in December, adding that the couple knows they "love each other" and are "going to figure something out."
They even know Japril's living arrangements. "I think that they probably moved there with separate apartments and she's always at my place," said Williams.
"His is way nicer. He just has more money," Drew joked, to which Williams responded, "Obviously. She's poor."
Drew and Williams' natural banter enhances their clear admiration for each other, which is evident on any screen they share, in character or not.Williams said that Japril's reconciliation would have to occur in a way that was "not rushed," since "the only other trap that's left is trying to compensate for lost time."
A spinoff would be the perfect way to make up for that lost time and provide Drew, Williams, and Japril fans with a nuanced redemption story that makes sense. But Drew admitted that they "don't know" how fans can help make one happen.
In May 2021, Craig Erwich, the president of ABC
As for a potential Japril spinoff in Boston, Williams said: "If it's a matter of fan love, we would already be in episode eight of it right now." He said he knows fans love the characters and "if there's such a thing that's deserving it, they deserve it and we've earned it and it would be dope."
"But all they can do is keep plugging away and screaming about it," Williams added.
Drew's Lifetime movie "Stolen by Their Father" premieres on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.
Williams makes his Broadway debut in "Take Me Out" at the Hayes Theater in New York City beginning Thursday, March 10.