Grey’s Anatomy fans speechless after realising where they’ve seen star before

Due to Grey’s Anatomy’s astonishing 20-season run, it’s no surprise that a myriad of famous faces have made cameo appearances over the years.

Mandy Moore, Marvel’s Tessa Thompson and Sarah Paulson have all guest-starred on the medical drama, alongside Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown, One Tree Hill’s Hilarie Burton and her IRL husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

But one actor who has appeared in two seasons of Grey’s has fans claiming their lives have ‘taken on a whole new meaning’ after realising where they’ve seen her before.

Back in season three of the ABC drama, Derek (played by Patrick Dempsey) and Amelia Shepherd’s (Caterina Scorsone) sister, Nancy Shepherd, (Embeth Davidtz) made her first appearance.

In the episode, entitled Let the Angels Commit, the Connecticut doctor of obstetrics and gynaecology comes to visit her brother after he bailed on the last few family holidays.

Nancy then had a run-in with show protagonist Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) before exiting and later returning for two episodes of Grey’s in season 15.

But Davidtz isn’t just remembered for playing the character nicknamed ‘McHottie’ or ‘Nancy Pants’.

In fact, the American-South African actress is probably best known for the deuteragonist Miss Jennifer Honey in 1996’s Matilda.

In the film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1988 novel of the same name, Davidtz stars as a teacher at Crunchem Hall who inspires Matilda Wormwood (Mara Wilson) to use her power for good.

Nancy Shepherd is portrayed by Embeth Davidtz. (ABC)

In the film, she later adopts Matilda - thus removing her from the care of her neglectful parents Harry (Danny DeVito) and Zinnia (Rhea Perlman).

Despite Davidtz first stepping out as Nancy in Grey’s 17 years ago and Miss Honey in Matilda over a decade earlier, some social media users are only just realising the connection now.

After discovering the actress plays both characters, one Reddit user typed: “My life has taken on a whole new meaning. How did I not realize this?”

A second said: “She also played Natasha in Bridget Jones's Diary!”

“Omg!! I knew she seemed familiar but I couldn’t place it,” gushed someone else.

Another commented: “I cannot unsee it now.”

Davidtz also played Miss Honey in Matilda. (Sony Pictures Releasing)

However, her appearance as Nancy Shepherd didn’t surprise everyone, with one user writing: “I feel like I’m probably older than you all, so I can say that I’ve always known. Though she looks a bit different as far as her hairstyles go when she first appears as Nancy, her voice is still very recognizable for me.

“If any of you watch The Morning Show, she plays Steve Carell’s character’s wife, I was able to recognize who she was just by hearing her voice and not even looking at the screen.”

A second said: “Yep, I knew that. I was obsessed with Matilda when I was little.”

The more you know, hey?