Ellen Pompeo On Why She Hasn’t Left ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Completely: “That Would Make No Sense, Emotionally Or Financially”
Ellen Pompeo is one of three original Grey’s Anatomy cast members who have remained on the long-running series since its debut in 2005.
In 2022 (Season 19), Pompeo took a step back from the medical drama named after her character, Meredith Grey, and in a new interview, the star explains why she hasn’t entirely left the show.
“That would make no sense, emotionally or financially. The show was streamed more than a billion times in 2024. More than a billion times,” Pompeo told El País while promoting A Good American Family. “The companies that own the show and stream the show make a lot of money from our images and our voices and our faces.”
She continued, “If I were to walk away completely, everybody gets to make money from my hard work for 20 years and I wouldn’t make any money. To me, it doesn’t make any sense that everybody [else] gets to profit off of my hard work. And emotionally, the show means a lot to people. I want to have an attitude of gratitude toward the show.”
During the same interview, Pompeo also explained why she chose to act in another TV series after reducing her role in Grey’s Anatomy.
“Well, this is a limited series, so I won’t appear as this character again. I was just looking for something that was very different from Meredith Grey, and this offer presented itself,” she said.
