Ellen Pompeo reveals sad reason she decided to continue with Grey’s Anatomy as she shares sobering message for women

Ellen Pompeo remains the longest-serving cast member of medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, which is still going strong(ish) after 21 seasons.

She ultimately left the show during the 19th season, which aired in February 2023, although the actor has since returned for regular appearances and voiceovers.

In a new interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Pompeo opened up about her lengthy tenure on the show, admitting there was a slightly bittersweet reason why she decided to stick with it for so long.

She told host Alex Cooper how she hadn’t taken ‘the most normal path’ as an artist, saying actors want to ‘chase the trophies... being relevant... the new, sexy, hot, shiny thing’.

Pompeo, on the other hand, kept at it with Grey’s rather than leaving in pursuit of something fresh.

Ellen Pompeo is the longest-serving cast member (ABC)

While it was always in the ‘back of her mind’ about how things may have panned out if she hadn’t remained on the show, the mum-of-three said her choice allowed her to have a ‘really full home life’, which probably wouldn’t have been the case if she’d taken a ‘different, more creative path’.

When Cooper asked if filming in LA – as opposed to jetting all over the world for different projects – allowed her to juggle the job with parenting and give her a ‘steady lifestyle’, Pompeo replied: “Different things work for different people.”

She admitted her age also played a factor when trying to decide if she wanted to stay on the series.

Pompeo opened up about her long tenure on the show (YouTube/Call Her Daddy)

The star continued: “At a certain point, I had a choice to sort of finish my contract or stay, and at the age I was, I was like, ‘Oh, well I’ll be 40 when my first contract is up. I better re-sign and take this money,’ because they offer you, ‘If you re-sign, we’ll give you this giant raise.’

“So I thought – back then, 20 years ago – women at 40, it’s over. That’s a wrap, honey. So I was like, ‘I better sign and I better do this because this is the most money I’m ever going to make, and the most opportunity I’m ever going to get.”

Pompeo, who now stars in Hulu miniseries Good American Family, added: “Women in this industry are so incredible because look at how far we’ve come, and every little bit matters, but we all collectively push this giant boulder up a hill, and we’ve gotten it to a really good place where, here I am, at 55 years old – I just turned 55 last month – and I’m getting a whole second chapter here after this, with this new show.”