When one thinks of Grey’s Anatomy, odds are the first name that comes to mind is Ellen Pompeo and for good reason. Pompeo has long been the face of the franchise as Dr. Meredith Grey, anchoring the series from its very first episode and serving as the emotional heart of the show.
Meredith is one of the strongest characters on television and has been inspiring generations of viewers for over 20 years now. No matter what life has thrown her way, she finds a way to rise above it, but not without setbacks, heartbreaks, and self-doubt, which is what has always helped audiences connect with her. She’s not perfect and never has claimed to be perfect. She’s flawed, and that’s what makes us love her.
It’s impossible to think of anyone else playing the role of Meredith, but the reality is that Pompeo actually almost passed on the role that has made her a household name.
Ellen Pompeo initially said no to Grey’s Anatomy because she hated medical shows
Years ago, Ellen Pompeo went out for an ABC series in the works called Secret Service, which ultimately did not go to series, but her connections to the network put her on the radar of series creator Shonda Rhimes.
As she began casting the show, Rhimes had a very particular type in mind for the role of Meredith Grey: a girl like the girl in the dark comedy Moonlight Mile. When Rhimes brought this up in conversation during the development stage, she came to learn that the girl from Moonlight Mile was Ellen Pompeo, who just so happened to have a deal with ABC at the time. There was just one problem: Pompeo had no interest in doing a medical drama.
“I said, ‘I hate medical shows! They make me think I'm gonna die all the time.’ And they said, ‘Please just go meet Shonda.’ So we had lunch at Barney Greengrass in Beverly Hills, and after I met her it was like, ‘I want to do this show.’ I just liked her,” Pompeo reflected on how she came to join the cast in the book How to Save a Life.
Could you imagine if that meeting with Rhimes hadn't gone well? Without that instant connection, we likely would have never gotten to see Pompeo inhabit the role of Meredith due to her dislike of medical shows, one she’s spoken about at various times throughout her career.
Early in Grey's Anatomy's run, Pompeo was often asked about her favorite medical dramas and was transparent in expressing her dislike for the genre for making her anxious. In fact, during an interview with Parade, Pompeo even confessed to never seeing a single episode of ER.
"To be honest, I hated medical shows. They make me super anxious. I don’t particularly like medical shows at all. I never have. The show that was really big at the time for my generation — before I started Grey’s— was ER. That was on forever, but I’ve never seen one episode!"
It's unclear whether Pompeo's stance on medical dramas has changed through the years, but acting in a medical drama is certainly different from watching them. We're just glad that she hit it off with Shonda Rhimes during their first meeting and that her dislike of the genre didn't stop her from taking the role. Pompeo has touched so many lives through her role on the show, inspiring countless individuals to enter the medical field, and we're forever grateful for the years she spent bringing Meredith to life.
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