In May, ABC wrapped up Grey’s Anatomy Season 12.
This fall, ABC will kick off Grey’s Anatomy Season 13.
That’s an incredibly impressive run and it doesn’t appear as if the Thursday night juggernaut will be slowing down any time soon.
At this point, it’s pretty clear Grey’s Anatomy will stick around for as long as creator Shonda Rhimes wants it to stick around.
And, perhaps, for as long as Ellen Pompeo is still willing to portray Dr. Meredith Grey, practically the one stable main character on a series that has seen its share of big cast changes.
But fans of the program can rest easy:
Based on a new interview with People Magazine, it doesn’t appear as if Pompeo is going anywhere any time soon.
“My decision to stay on Grey’s was based solely on age,” Pompeo admits.
“At 33, I was wise enough to know my clock was already ticking in Hollywood.”
You don’t see an actor or actress make that sort of confession very often, do you?
Pompeo, who acknowledges she got a “super late start” in Hollywood, is shining a light here on the kinds of challenges older actresses often face.
When contract negotiations came up recently she “was definitely aware of how challenging it would be to find other roles in my late 30s and early 40s.”
Patrick Dempsey departed Grey’s Anatomy toward the end of Season 11, while other original cast members (such as Katherine Heigl and Sandra Oh) have also left.
But not Pompeo.
“I thought, ‘Why would I leave something that is super successful and pays me great to search the landscape?’
“I decided that I would stay on Grey’s and be grateful and try to ride it out for as long as I could,” she says.
“And I am very happy that I made the decision to stay. It’s only gotten better with time.”
But while Pompeo is happy with this choice, she has been less than thrilled over the years with the way tabloids have covered her body.
“I used to get a lot of criticism for how thin I was, and I didn’t have a lot confidence because of it. But I was naturally thin,” the 46-year-old says.
“I always thought it was irresponsible of the media to portray me as someone with an eating disorder because if some girls look up to me and think that’s what you have to do to look like me, it’s a horrifying concept.
“I listened to the criticism a little too much – and this was pre-social media. It’s even crazier to think what women have to deal with now.”
It really is.
Fortunately, she has a great attitude about her looks.
“For me, personally, I don’t do Botox or anything like that,” the star tells People. “It can’t be what’s on the outside; it’s gotta be what’s on the inside.”
