Grey's Anatomy: Joey Lauren Adams onboard for season 12 premiere

Joey Lauren Adams will guest-star on the upcoming season of Grey’s Anatomy, ABC announced Friday.

As revealed in the season 11 finale, Bailey (Chandra Wilson) will be competing to be the new Chief against a candidate that Catherine Avery (Debbie Allen) chooses — EW can reveal that the Chasing Amy star will play Bailey’s competition.

“We’re going to watch Bailey make a play for chief,” executive producer Shonda Rhimes recently told EW for our big Shondaland issue. “We’re going to see what it means if she does or doesn’t get it, and we’re going to watch her struggle with growing up in that sense.”

Adams, whose TV credits include Switched at Birth and United States of Tara, is slated to appear in the season premiere, which airs Thursday, Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

•Shondaland music supervisor looks back on 11 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy songs

•Patrick Dempsey books first big post-Grey’s project: Bridget Jones’ Baby

•Grey’s Anatomy first look: Check out one of the new sets for season 12

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