"Grey's Anatomy" fans don't have to worry that Ellen Pompeo will be saying goodbye to Grey Sloan Memorial any time soon.
In a new interview with The New York Post, Pompeo said that unlike some of her other co-stars, she wants to continue being a "Grey's" mainstay as long as she possibly can. Pompeo's contract expires next summer along with all of her original co-stars, including Patrick Dempsey. Sandra Oh is leaving this season, and Patrick Dempsey is contemplating leaving after his contract is up to pursue racing full time. But for Pompeo, "Grey's" is tops, and she couldn't ask for anything more.
"Actors always think the grass is greener somewhere else - I didn't want to do that," she told the New York Post. "I have an amazing life. I have a house five minutes from the studio, I have a house in the Hamptons, a house in Malibu, a beautiful daughter whom I see every night, and it's all because I didn't leave 'Grey's Anatomy.'"
Pompeo also dished about the show's early days, including the controversial exists of Isaiah Washington and Katherine Heigl.
"Hurt feelings, combined with instant success and huge paychecks started things spinning out of control," she explained. "The crazier things got, as I watched all the tumult with Isaiah and then the Katie thing, I started to focus on the work. Maybe it is my Boston, blue-collar upbringing. I just tried to not pay attention to all the noise around me."
Pompeo also said that Washington was originally pegged for the McDreamy role that Dempsey made famous. But Pompeo said, "I didn't want him [Washington]. It was too close to home." In real life, Pompeo is married to Chris Ivery, an African-American music producer. "I said I wanted that Dempsey kid," Pompeo added. "I think that once Isaiah did not get the role it backfired."
Washington used homophobic slurs on set, and then backstage at the 2007 Golden Globe Awards. He was fired shortly afterwards.
Pompeo then spilled about Katherine Heigl's contentious departure in 2009. Pomepo said it was "tough."
"You could understand why she wanted to go - when you're offered $12 million a movie and you're only 26. But Katie's problem is that she should not have [extended] her contract. She re-upped, took a big raise and then tried to get off the show," Pompeo said. "And then her movie career did not take off."
Although her co-star Patrick Dempsey has made comments about possibly leaving the show, he is also thankful for his "Grey's" experience.
"Of course I have thought about leaving," Dempsey said in the article. "It's always at the end of the season, when you are tired of having no control over your schedule,when you can't see the forest for the trees, to know how fortunate you are."
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