‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Ellen Pompeo Revealed The Set Used To Be Very Toxic And More
Hey, “Grey’s Anatomy” fans. We’ve got some pretty interesting news for you guys in this article. It’s in reference to the show’s leading lady Ellen Pompeo aka character Meredith Grey. It turns out that she had a lot of secrets to tell during a recent interview with actress Taraji P. Henson, who plays character Cookie Lion on FOX’s hit drama “Empire.”
Ellen and Taraji apparently did this interview as part of a special Actors on Actors chat according to the folks over at People.com. During the interview, Ellen opened up and revealed that the work environment for Grey’s Anatomy behind-the-scenes was anything but pleasant for the first 10 years. In fact, it was quite toxic!
She stated,”The first 10 years we had serious culture issues, very bad behavior and a really toxic work environment. However, once I started having kids, it became no longer about me. I needed to provide for my family.
At 40 years old, where am I ever going to get this kind of money? I need to take care of my kids. But after season 10, we had some big shifts in front of the camera and behind the camera.”
After that, Ellen went on to explain that she decided to make it her mission to make the Grey’s Anatomy set a better place to work. She also mentioned that the show’s creator Shonda Rhimes has been amazing to her.
In Ellen’s efforts to turn the Grey’s Anatomy set around, she explained,”It became my goal to have an experience there that I could be happy and proud about, because we had so much turmoil for 10 years. My mission became, this can’t be fantastic to the public and a disaster behind the scenes.
We turned the culture around. I’ve hit some marks that have made me feel accomplished in a different way. Creator Shonda Rhimes has been amazing. She lets us be mothers. I don’t have to travel, and I don’t have to go anywhere.”
During this conversation, Ellen also talked about how she decided to prove that she could carry the show after Derek Shepherd star Patrick Dempsey left in season 11. Apparently, ABC didn’t think the show could continue to be successful without him!
Ellen stated, “Patrick Dempsey left the show in season 11, and the studio and network believed the show could not go on without the male lead. So I had a mission to prove that it could. I was on a double mission.”
Ellen also went on to talk about her $20 million dollar yearly salary that she had negotiated. During this part of the conversation, things got real interesting because she revealed that the $20 million dollars was nothing compared to what Patrick Dempsey was making for the Derek Shepherd role! Apparently, he was pulling in double that amount!
People.com also pointed out that not only does Ellen rake in the dough for acting in the 25 episodes that the show usually produces each season, she also gets broken off a cut for helping to produce the Grey’s Anatomy spin off show, “Station 19.” They also give her a fat seven-figure signing bonus to go along with the $20 million dollars.
Lastly, Ellen revealed that she’s really been focusing on achieving some pretty big goals behind the scenes of Grey’s Anatomy as of late stating, “Every once in a while we do an amazing storyline. However, for the last five years, I’ve had other milestones that we were trying to achieve behind the camera.” And that’s it, guys. That’s everything Ellen shared in this particular conversation.
How do you guys feel about Ellen Pompeo’s very revealing statement about Grey’s Anatomy behind-the-scenes? Let us know in the comments section.
Alright guys. That’s all we’ve got for this latest “Grey’s Anatomy” report, but definitely stay tuned for more. We’re expecting some new season 16 intel to come out anytime now.
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