She may have been onGrey’s Anatomyfor the last 20 years butEllen Pompeoisn’t quite ready to let all her children watch the hit medical drama.
Between her three kids —Stella Luna, 15, Sienna May, 10, and Eli Christopher, 8, with her husband, sportswear executive Chris Ivery, 57 — only Pompeo’s oldest daughter has seen the show. “What happens is all the classmates start watching it so you can only hold them off for so long because everyone in the class has seen it except your kid,” says the actress, 55. “And then it gets awkward so you’re like, ‘Okay.'”
Ellen Pompeo.JONNY MARLOW
JONNY MARLOW
As to why the show is resonating with more and more generations, Pompeo says the familiarity “makes people feel comfortable. It’s their comfort food,” explains the actress, who’s next starring in Hulu’s dark new series aboutNatalia Grace,Good American Family. “It makes them feel like some things in the world stay the same and we’ll be okay, and it’s not all whatever it is.”
While herGrey’scharacter, Meredith, moved to Boston to research Alzheimer’s disease in season 19, Pompeo still appears on a handful of episodes and narrates the show, for which she serves as an executive producer with her production company, Calamity Jane. “The best thing is the financial security, if I’m being very honest,” she says of her longevity. “It’s been really lucrative, and I think financial security is not something that every actress is afforded, so I’m very grateful for that.”
As for any challenges, Pompeo points to “the repetitive nature of doing the same thing over and over,” she explains. “There’s a familiarity that people love, so we can’t change it too much. I’m always like, ‘Let’s do this and let’s do that.’ ” And they’re like, ‘Shut up, Ellen. We’re not doing that.’ So, people love the familiarity, and familiarity breeds contempt.”
Still, Pompeo admits it’s the fandom that really lends insight into the show’s impact. “What’s extraordinary is that it’s spawned thousands of surgeons,” she says. “People tell me they’ve gone into the field of medicine because ofGrey’sall the time, and it’s part of what’s kept me on the show so long. It really does touch people for the better.”
Ellen Pompeo with oldest daughter Stella Luna.Ellen Pompeo/Instagram
Ellen Pompeo/Instagram
Pompeo with T.R. Knight on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’.Scott Garfield/Disney/Getty
Scott Garfield/Disney/Getty
The actress admits even her middle daughter is starting to reach that point “where her friends are watching [the show]. But I still think there’s a lot of inappropriate stuff that 10-year-olds should not be seeing,” Pompeo adds. “So no judgment on other parents, but I just don’t want to answer questions. I get some weird questions because I was in the scene. ‘So, why are your panties on the bulletin board?’ Really don’t want to talk about that right now.”
Good American FamilycostarringThe Morning Show’s Mark Duplass and Imogen Faith Reid premieres March 19 on Hulu.
source: people.com
