Actress Ellen Pompeo Explains Her Decision to Continue in Grey’s Anatomy

A departure from “Grey’s Anatomy” would “make no sense, emotionally or financially,” according to Ellen Pompeo.

Despite having renegotiated her contract in 2022 to appear in fewer episodes per season in order to spend more time with her family, the 55-year-old actress will not be saying goodbye to her MD persona entirely because the medical drama is still incredibly successful and popular.

Grey’s Anatomy’s popularity was demonstrated in 2024 when the show reached over one billion streams.

Regarding the prospect of departing from the program she has been in charge of since 2005, Ellen stated: “That would be financially and emotionally absurd.” The show received over one billion streams in 2024. In excess of a billion times.

Our voices, appearances, and photos bring in a lot of money for the firms that own and broadcast the show. I wouldn’t make any money if I quit entirely, while everyone else would profit from my 20 years of labor.

The fact that everyone else benefits from my labors is incomprehensible to me. The show also holds great emotional significance for many. When it comes to the show, I want to be grateful.

When her schedule on “Grey’s Anatomy” was reduced, Ellen was thrilled to have more time with her husband, music producer Chris Ivery, and their three kids, son Eli, daughters Stella and Sienna.

“After 20 years of doing it, it was time to take a break,” she stated in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais. I enjoy being active in the lives of my three children and spending time with them. It’s a blessing that I can occasionally work and take time off. My life is in a good state of equilibrium.

Since her episodes on Grey’s Anatomy have been cut, Ellen has also been able to pursue other roles. She is the lead character in Hulu’s “A Good American Family,” which is based on the real story of Natalia Grace, a young Ukrainian girl with a rare form of dwarfism who was adopted by Kristine and Michael Barnett, an American couple, in 2010.

Following several violent incidents involving knives and indications that the girl was older than seven, Michael and Kristine decided that Natalie was an adult and petitioned the Marion County, Indiana court to have her legally recognized as such. They then left her to live alone in an apartment.

The series presents the story from all angles of the court battle that followed in an attempt to establish Natalia’s true age.

Ellen chose to play Natalia’s adoptive mother, Kristine Barnett, since she differs greatly from Meredith Grey.