grey’s anatomy.Photo: ABC
Despite spending over 15 years starring as the beloved Dr. Meredith Grey,Ellen Pompeoadmits she’s barely watched her hit medical dramaGrey’s Anatomy.
During Wednesday’sepisodeof her podcast,Tell Me with Ellen Pompeo, the 52-year-old actress spoke with guestMartha Stewartabout the ABC series, revealing she’s only seen a “handful” of the show.
“This is my 18th season, and it’s 392 episodes,” Pompeo told Stewart, admitting that she’s “not even close” to watching or even remembering all the episodes.
“I haven’t really seen most of them, I’ve watched only a handful,” she explained. “The few times I’ve directed, I’ve gone back and watched some old episodes. 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.”
Bob D’Amico/ABC via Getty.
The actress previously toldInsiderthat she’s likely only seen “six or seven episodes” of the series and only the pilot episode out of the first 10 seasons.
“The few episodes that I’ve seen have been really since the advent of social media,” Pompeo told the outlet in November 2021, referring to scenes from the show that have more recently gone viral on social media platforms, specifically TikTok.
Last month, ABC announced that the network has ordered a 19th season of the iconic and longest-running primetime medical drama series.
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“I couldn’t be more excited that we get to keep telling the stories of Meredith, Bailey, Richard and all of the other doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial for another season,” said creator Shonda Rhimes. “This is a true testament to Krista Vernoff, the cast, the crew and all the writers who keep the audience on the edge of their seat week after week. And it would not be possible without the generations of incredible fans who have supportedGrey’s Anatomyfor so many years.”
Over the years,cast memberscame and went — Pompeo, Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr. are the only lead actors who have remained for all 18 seasons.
Despite the show’s renewal, Pompeo has been vocal in recent months about the possibility ofGrey’scoming to an end. In September of last year, the actress toldEntertainment Tonightthat she’s been “trying to get away for years.”
“It’s not because I haven’t been trying,” she said of leaving Meredith behind. “I have strong relationships at the network [ABC] and they have been very, very good to me, and have incentivized me to stay.”
Pompeo, who serves as a producer on the show, also toldVarietyin 2020 thatGrey’swould likely end when she leaves. “I don’t take the decision lightly,” she said at the time. “We employ a lot of people, and we have a huge platform. And I’m very grateful for it.”
On Thursday,Grey’s Anatomywill return for its winter premiere in a two-hour crossover event withStation 19— beginning withStation 19airing at 8 p.m. EST andGrey’s Anatomyairing at 9 p.m. EST on ABC.
source: people.com
