Ellen Pompeo On Why She Hasn’t Left ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Completely: “That Would Make No Sense, Emotionally Or Financially”​on April 14, 2025 at 4:40 pm

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.”

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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.