Ellen Pompeo was the face of Gray’s Anatomy from 2005 till she stepped again from the beloved ABC collection in Season 19. At the moment, she nonetheless narrates the present as Dr. Meredith Gray and seems in a restricted capability whereas serving as an govt producer.
The medical drama will kick off Season 22 this fall and the actress, 55, nonetheless has no plans to exit the collection created by Shonda Rhimes. So, why has Pompeo caught round for thus lengthy? The mother of three opened up about her longevity on Gray’s Anatomy throughout a current interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“On Gray’s, you actually solely get a possibility to be nominated for issues in your first few seasons, and so that point had clearly handed,” she instructed the publication in an article printed on June 18. “I didn’t crave that sort of recognition. I craved the form of monetary and job safety state of affairs extra that I did essential accolades — that’s why I stayed on the present.”
The actress echoed these sentiments in April when she instructed El País it will “make no sense, emotionally or financially” for her to depart Gray’s Anatomy. “The present was streamed greater than a billion instances in 2024. Greater than a billion instances.”
Anne Marie Fox/ABC
Throughout her sit-down with THR, Pompeo additional defined her motivation to stay on the present.
“Had I been [chasing] essential acclaim, I wouldn’t have stayed on Gray’s for thus lengthy,” she shared. “So it wasn’t at all times an important factor to me however now that I’m doing one thing new, it will positively, in all probability assist me on this subsequent chapter of my story — transferring on from Gray’s, doing different roles.”
In March, Good American Household premiered on Hulu, and Gray’s Anatomy followers bought to see Pompeo in an entire new gentle as Kristine Barnett, Natalia Grace‘s former adoptive mom, within the limited-series drama.
The present is predicated on the real-life story of Grace, who lives with dwarfism, after the Barnetts claimed she was an grownup posing as a baby and had her age legally modified. In actuality, Grace was decided to be 8 in 2010.
Gray’s Anatomy, streaming on Hulu