Ellen Pompeo is opening about the difficult experiences she had on the set of Grey's Anatomy over the years. While things have improved for the 49-year old actress, she revealed the on-set environment was "toxic" in the long-running show's early seasons.
In conversation with Taraji P. Henson for Variety, Ellen said "there were many moments" she thought about quitting Grey's Anatomy. "It's funny: I never wanted off the bus in the year that I could get off. The first 10 years we had serious culture issues, very bad behavior, really toxic work environment. But once I started having kids, it became no longer about me. I need to provide for my family," she explained.
"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, behind the camera," she continued. "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. Shonda Rhimes and I decided to rewrite the ending of this story," Ellen said of her decision to renew her contract and stay on Grey's Anatomy for the foreseeable future."That's what's kept me. 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."
Her hard work and dedication is paying off, too. Grey's Anatomy remains one of ABC's top rated shows in its fifteenth season.
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