Ellen Pompeo revealed why she stayed on Grey's Anatomy for so long
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| The actress was a guest on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast, where she opened up and said she had 'something to prove' after Dempsey's exit |
Ellen Pompeo revealed she stayed on Grey's Anatomy because she had 'something to prove' when Patrick Dempsey left the show.
While Ellen Pompeo gets ready for her 17th season of Grey's Anatomy, the actress revealed the real reason she's stuck with the show.
The 50-year-old actress has played Meredith Grey since the show debuted in 2005, though a pivotal moment came after Season 11, as she was negotiating to return for Season 12, following the exit of Patrick Dempsey.
The actress was a guest on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast, where she opened up and said she had 'something to prove' after Dempsey's exit.
'When Patrick left, I had something to prove,' Pompeo said on the new episode of Armchair Expert that debuted on Monday.
'He left season 11, and then I was renegotiating season 12, so I could have left, because the man left, which is not the story I want to tell,' she said.
While Pompeo played the title character, Dempsey's Dr. Derek Shepherd, a.k.a. McDreamy, was considered more of a fan favorite.
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| The 50-year-old actress has played Meredith Grey since the show debuted in 2005, though a pivotal moment came after Season 11, as she was negotiating to return for Season 12, following the exit of Patrick Dempsey |
'They had put that in my head for so long, that I was no good without him,' Pompeo recalled.
'I had to rewrite the ending of that story and, say, well, "Who’s right? Am I actually good without him?"' she said.
She added that she was 'so beat down' and 'so meant to feel like they could do the show without me.'
'Patrick Dempsey leaving the show was that for me. I was like, oh, I have a window here, now how are they going to tell me they don’t need me,' she continued.
She also discussed a 2018 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where she discussed those contract negotiations, which inspired women everywhere.
'You know we didn’t set out for the article to be what it was, so that was interesting. I have negotiated several times on Grey’s obviously now. Like I say in the article, the only real power you ever have is if you’re truly, willing to walk away,' she said.
Pompeo admitted that she is, 'definitely not going to go forever' on the long-running show, but she added another reason why she stayed.
'There’s another element to staying at a job for a long time. Not everybody can do it. You have to make sure you’re not boring,” she explained.
'You have to make sure you’re not phoning it in. There’s still this biological component that sort of takes over where familiarity breeds contempt,' she said.
The 17th Season of Grey's Anatomy has not yet started production, due to COVID-19, and there is no indication as to when filming may start.