An apple a day won’t keep Ellen Pompeo away.
The “Grey’s Anatomy” star, 55, has revealed that she would never hang up her scrubs and leave the popular medical drama for good because she “wouldn’t make any money” if she did.
Pompeo, who has starred as Dr. Meredith Grey on the long-running ABC series since its premiere back in March 2005, recently discussed the “emotional” and “financial” matter during an interview with El País.
“That would make no sense, emotionally or financially,” Pompeo said when asked whether she would ever leave the beloved series permanently. “The show was streamed more than a billion times in 2024. More than a billion times.”
“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.”
Pompeo explained “it doesn’t make any sense” that everyone but her would profit from her “hard work” after 21 seasons, adding that, from an emotional perspective, “Grey’s Anatomy” means “a lot to” the show’s millions of fans.
“To me, it doesn’t make any sense that everybody gets to profit off of my hard work,” she said. “And emotionally, the show means a lot to people. I want to have an attitude of gratitude toward the show.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the “Good American Family” star discussed why she chose to pursue a smaller role on “Grey’s Anatomy.” While Pompeo still serves as the show’s main narrator, she doesn’t appear in every episode.
“I’ve been doing it for 20 years, so it was time to step away,” she explained to the outlet. “I have three children, and I love spending time with them, and I love being involved in their lives. I’m very lucky to be able to get to work sometimes and take time off. I have a nice balance in my life.”
As for her latest role as Kristine Barnett on the new Hulu series “Good American Family,” Pompeo said it was both “thrilling” and “terrifying” to play a character that wasn’t Dr. Meredith Grey after more than 20 years.
“It was at the same time thrilling and terrifying,” she admitted. “People have been watching me in the same role for 20 years. I’ve been playing the same role for 20 years. I had no reason to believe that I could do anything else.”
“I hadn’t tested myself in 20 years, and I can’t expect my audience to believe me as anything else,” Pompeo added. “If I’m going to ask them to watch me as a new character, then I’d better deliver on all fronts.”
Before her interview with El País this month, Pompeo made headlines for opening up about the initial pay gap between herself and former “Grey’s Anatomy” co-star Patrick Dempsey at the start of the show’s first season.
“I wasn’t salty about him getting what he got,” the actress said on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast in March. “I was salty that they didn’t value me as much as they valued him, and they never will.”
Pompeo later renegotiated her contract and, by 2018, became the highest-paid actress in a television drama, bringing in $20 million per season of “Grey’s Anatomy.”