Ellen Pompeo Reveals Financial Motivation for Staying on ‘Grey's Anatomy’
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Synopsis
Ellen Pompeo explains her decision to stay on ‘Grey's Anatomy’, emphasizing both emotional connections and financial considerations. She remains an influential figure in the series despite reducing her role in recent seasons.
Key Takeaways
- Ellen Pompeo has played Meredith Grey since 2005.
- She scaled back her role starting in season 19.
- Financial reasons influenced her choice to stay.
- The show was streamed over a billion times in 2024.
- Pompeo is set to appear in at least seven episodes in season 21.
Los Angeles, April 15 (NationPress) Actress Ellen Pompeo is unequivocal about her journey on the immensely popular show ‘Grey's Anatomy’. Since its debut in 2005, she has portrayed Meredith Grey in the groundbreaking medical drama, but she adopted a more limited role in the ABC series starting with season 19 in 2022.
Nonetheless, she remains a significant presence at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, and her reasoning is straightforward, as reported by ‘People’ magazine.
"That would make no sense, emotionally or financially," Pompeo, 55, mentioned in an interview with El País regarding her potential departure from the beloved ABC series.
"The show was streamed over a billion times in 2024. More than a billion times. The companies that own and stream the show profit greatly from our images, voices, and faces,” she explained. "If I were to walk away completely, everyone else gets to benefit financially from my hard work over the last 20 years, while I wouldn't earn a dime. To me, it doesn’t make sense for everyone else to profit from my efforts. And on an emotional level, the show is significant to many people. I aim to maintain a perspective of gratitude towards the show.”
According to ‘People’, Pompeo featured in only eight episodes during season 19 of Grey's due to her commitment to her latest project, Hulu's Great American Family, which led to her character's poignant decision to leave Seattle that season.
Despite her absence, Meredith made her return in season 20, and in the current installment, season 21, she is expected to appear in at least seven episodes.
The transformation of Pompeo's role in the series followed her negotiation of a $20 million contract in 2017, which established her as the highest-paid actress on television, with earnings of $575,000 per episode.
