Ellen Pompeo Has Watched Only A Few Episodes Of Greys Anatomy
By Favour Adegoke on February 28, 2022 at 12:00 PM EST
Grey's Anatomy is one show with an abundance of iconic characters, both past and present. However, there is one character that the show revolves around, the infamous Meredith Grey, whose last name is referenced in the show's title.
Ellen Pompeo, the talented actress that plays Grey, has had an incredibly successful career playing the titular character, but she recently revealed that she almost turned down the opportunity. Read to find out more about what she said concerning the show.
Pompeo Almost Turned Down The Role
It may be surprising to Grey's Anatomy fans, but Pompeo almost didn't audition for the role. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2018, she explained that she wanted to be on the big screen, not on TV.
So, when her agent showed her the Shonda Rhimes medical drama script, she first dismissed it. Pompeo recalled that she said, "I was like, 'I'm not going to be stuck on a medical show for five years.'"
However, she soon realized that the show was a very good option. Her film career wasn't making the progress she wanted, and she struggled to pay bills. So, after a few days of thought, she auditioned, and it was a decision that changed her life.
She experienced several pros that came with being on a TV show, such as having time to be with her kids. She spoke about it on the Jemele Hill is Unbothered podcast and said, "To have a happy home life was really something I needed to complete, to close the hole in my heart, and so I made a decision to make money and not chase creative acting roles."
She Has Watched Very Few Episodes
One fact about Pompeo that would certainly surprise fans is that she barely watches "Grey's Anatomy." In fact, she recently revealed that even on her off days, she would rather watch something other than her own show.
On February 23rd, Pompeo guest-starred Martha Stewart on her podcast Tell Me with Ellen Pompeo and revealed that of the 18 seasons and 392 episodes of Grey's Anatomy, she has only "watched a handful."
She also shared that she makes exceptions for the episodes where she is more than just the main character. She said, "The few times I've directed, I went back and watched some old episodes."
She Only Watches The Early Episodes
Pompeo told Stewart during the podcast episode that when she chooses to watch Grey's Anatomy, she watches episodes from the early seasons to keep the original Grey's spirit alive in her work.
She said, "My intention is always to keep the spirit of the early days. That's really the hard work, is to try to keep that sort of DNA, which is hard but gives us a goal at least to strive for." This method is very helpful, especially in a show like Grey's Anatomy that has lost many of its original cast.
Eric Dane Also Doesn't Watch The Show
Pompeo isn't the only Grey's Anatomy star who isn't binge-watching the show with fans. On January 19th, Eric Dane had an interview with ExtraTV, during which he admitted that he doesn't feel the need to watch the show because, "Well, I was there when it happened."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvjd-mVRXts&t=62s
Dane, aka McSteamy on the show, explained that watching himself acting on the TV makes him very uncomfortable. On the BUILD series in 2017, he said, You start looking at things you shouldn't be looking at that have nothing to do, really, with anything of importance."
He did, however, share that, like Pompeo, he occasionally watches a few episodes of the show, but only the episodes that he was involved in production with.
