TV viewers just can't quit 'Grey's Anatomy': Why star Ellen Pompeo doesn't want to either

USA Today

30-04-2025

TV viewers just can't quit 'Grey's Anatomy': Why star Ellen Pompeo doesn't want to either
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'Grey's Anatomy' Eric Dane has been diagnosed with ALS
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If the seemingly never-ending seasons of "Grey's Anatomy" are the internet's running joke, Ellen Pompeo is taking that punchline to the bank.
The series' seminal star, Pompeo has led a rotating cast of characters as they battle medical emergencies (and plenty of personal drama) at Seattle Grace Hospital for 22 seasons. In a recent interview with El País, the actress said she has no plans of leaving anytime soon.
"That would make no sense," she said in the article published Sunday. "Emotionally or financially. The show was streamed more than a billion times in 2024. More than a billion times."
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Among the best-paid actresses in Hollywood, Pompeo, who plays the show's namesake Meredith Grey, said she's at peace with the choice she's made to embody one character for a long time rather than many. When she decided to reduce the number of episodes she starred in several seasons back, the show allowed her to create some much-needed balance in her life.
"I've been doing it for 20 years, so it was time to step away," Pompeo told El País. "I have three children and I love spending time with them and I love being involved in their lives. I'm very lucky to be able to get to work sometimes and take time off. I have a nice balance in my life."
She added, though, that a recent role in the mini-series "Good American Family," which she also produced, was a welcome challenge.
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"'Grey's' has other challenges," Pompeo, 55, told USA TODAY in a recent interview about the role. "But I really wanted something that really challenged me and to see if I have what it takes."
"I've been doing the same thing for 20 years," she added. "And if I fall on my face, I fall on my face. This was something that I could put 200% of my effort into and let's just see what happens."
"Good American Family," a true crime drama streaming on Hulu, sees Pompeo play the mother of an adoptive child with a rare form of dwarfism who begins to wonder if her daughter is actually an adult posing as a child. Based on a true story, the series chronicles a tragic and sordid tale and offers Pompeo the chance to play the villain.
Pompeo told El País that maturity offers her a different side of Hollywood than was available as a young starlet.
"When you're really young in Hollywood, you're hired for your talent, but also for your beauty," she said. "They're not hiring you for your beauty at 50 years old, they're hiring you for your complexity and your talent alone. Certainly, women are more complex and interesting as they get older, and so are the roles."