Ellen Pompeo won’t leave ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ because she wouldn’t make any money

Ellen Pompeo has no interest in hanging up her scrubs — nor in losing an income stream.

The actress known for playing lead character Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy recently told El País that she never wants to fully exit the long-running medical drama because she is so intertwined with the show’s success.

“That would make no sense, emotionally or financially,” Pompeo said of departing the series. “The show was streamed more than a billion times in 2024. More than a billion times.”

Pompeo explained that as long as anyone profits off Grey’s, she wants to remain part of the project. “The companies that own the show and stream the show make a lot of money from our images and our voices and our faces,” she said. “If I were to walk away completely, everybody gets to make money from my hard work for 20 years and I wouldn’t make any money. To me, it doesn’t make any sense that everybody [else] gets to profit off of my hard work. And emotionally, the show means a lot to people. I want to have an attitude of gratitude toward the show.”

Pompeo pivoted to a reduced role on Grey’s three years ago, in season 19. Though she still serves as the series’ primary narrator, the actress only appeared on camera in eight of that season’s 20 episodes, and only appeared in four of season 20’s 10 episodes. She’ll end this year’s season 21 with an additional seven on-camera episodes to her credit.

Pompeo spoke about why she scaled down her involvement on the series. “I’ve been doing it for 20 years, so it was time to step away,” she told El País. “I have three children and I love spending time with them and I love being involved in their lives. I’m very lucky to be able to get to work sometimes and take time off. I have a nice balance in my life.”

Aside from a voice role on Doc McStuffins and a cameo in Taylor Swift‘s “Bad Blood” music video, Meredith was Pompeo’s only onscreen performance from 2005 to 2025. She took on her first new role in two decades in Hulu’s limited series Good American Family, which she accepted because she was “looking for something that was very different from Meredith Grey” — which she admitted was a daunting decision.

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“It was at the same time thrilling and terrifying,” Pompeo said. “People have been watching me in the same role for 20 years. I’ve been playing the same role for 20 years. I had no reason to believe that I could do anything else. I hadn’t tested myself in 20 years and I can’t expect my audience to believe me as anything else. If I’m going to ask them to watch me as a new character, then I’d better deliver on all fronts.”