Meet Monica Beltran: Who is Natalie Morales' new Grey's Anatomy character?

Grey’s Anatomy has a brand new doctor on board, and she’s already clashing with Amelia! Who is Natalie Morales playing in the series? 

Grey’s Anatomy has finally gotten Season 20 underway after the long strike-caused delays and Episode 3 opened with Meredith and Amelia trying to secure funding for their new Alzheimer’s treatment study. The pair returned to the hospital with Amelia cutting off a woman for a parking space and they had brief words.

Amelia checked on a young patient named Mulan only to meet that woman, who turned out to be Dr. Monica Beltran, the new pediatric surgeon. The two had some arguments on treating the girl with Richard noting Beltran had a reputation for pushing boundaries. Monica did give Amelia the advice to take her time with things, which led to her coming up with an effective safe treatment. The girl’s grateful mother said “you two make a good team.”

Playing Beltran is Natalie Morales, who broke out in the 2008 cult sci-fi series The Middleman. She has appeared in films like No Hard Feelings but is better known for various TV series such as White Collar, The Grinder, Dead to Me, and The Morning Show. She’s already sparking in this guest role but could it become bigger?

Is there a chance for Monica and Amelia to hook up?

A big question is whether Monica will be Amelia’s new love interest following Amelia’s breakup with Kai. Speaking to Deadline, showrunner Meg Marinis previewed the character and the energy she brings to the show. 

"Natalie Morales’ character, she’s a no-nonsense pediatric surgeon, so she’s going to butt heads with our doctors because our doctors are about nonsense, right, if you watched the finale, but it’s going to be really fun. She’s not like any of our doctors, and that’s going to create some conflict and tension at the top. And I think that’s what we saw in the trailer, the beginning of that character butting heads with the doctors."

When questioned about any Monica-Amelia romance, Marinis simply hinted, “You never know who will be romantic with who. This is Grey’s Anatomy, there’s always going to be some of that.”

Morales is a fun actress and she and Amelia clearly had some nice chemistry going in their scenes together. Beltran showed she gets along with kids like getting her young patient some headphones to cope with the noise of the hospital and her tough advice helping Amelia realize taking her time was better. 

Right now, Morales is only set for a guest turn, but it wouldn’t be the first time a seemingly minor character ends up becoming a regular on the show. She’s already brought a great energy to the series and even if there’s no romance with Amelia, Monica would be a fine addition to Grey’s Anatomy. 

Grey’s Anatomy Season 20 airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.