Ellen Pompeo Said She May Give Up Acting Once 'Grey's Anatomy' Is Over
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Ellen Pompeo has been a fixture on our TV screens ever since Grey's Anatomy premiered in 2005—but after 17 seasons of portraying Dr. Meredith Grey, she may be ready for a career change.
"I'm not saying I'll never act again, I very well may, but I'm not super excited about continuing my acting career," Pompeo said during a July 30th guest appearance on the podcast Ladies First with Laura Brown. Pompeo said that, although she hasn't done "a million different roles," it feels like she has, likely due to the longevity of the series that made her a household name.
For those of us who love to watch awards shows and check out our favorite actors' most glamorous looks, it's easy to forget that the day-to-day grind can be exhausting. "Sitting around in trailers, traveling around, shooting this in Atlanta, shooting that in Vancouver. I have no desire to go sit in trailers at 11 o'clock at night and wait to shoot scenes and have ADs knock on my door and tell me when I can eat lunch," Pompeo told Brown. "You know, it's for the young at heart. It's for the youth!"
Pompeo began filming Season 17 of Grey's Anatomy in September 2020. In an Instagram post, she dedicated the season to the healthcare workers who have died from COVID-19.
In May it was announced that the show had been renewed for an 18th season and Pompeo would return. However, she's definitely keeping her options open for the future. Back in 2018 she told Entertainment Weekly that she was "looking for a career change."
During her interview with Brown, Pompeo expressed an interest in pursuing a business career once she's completed her run on Grey's Anatomy. "I'm more entrepreneurial at this stage," she said. "I'm excited about investing in businesses, and starting business. That's an area of growth that I'm excited about, using my brain in a different way."
