Ellen Kathleen Pompeo (/pɒmˈpeɪoʊ/; born November 10, 1969) is an American actress. She is best known for playingDr. Meredith Grey, the title character on the long-running ABC medical drama television seriesGrey's Anatomy. Her accolades include aScreen Actors Guild Award and aGolden Globe Award nomination. She has made multiple appearances onForbes's year-end lists.
Born inEverett, Massachusetts, Pompeo moved toMiami and thenNew York City, where a casting director discovered her and signed her for an ad campaign forL'Oreal. She made her screen debut withNBC's legal dramaLaw & Order, then guest-starred in other television shows, including the comedyStrangers with Candy, the medical dramaStrong Medicine and the sitcomFriends. She made her feature film debut in 1999 with the romantic comedyComing Soon, and went on to play minor roles in films likeIn the Weeds andMambo Café but found little initial success. A turning point came in her career in 2002, when she was noticed for her role inBrad Silberling's romantic dramaMoonlight Mile.
Pompeo was then cast inABC'sGrey's Anatomy, and gained worldwide recognition asDr. Meredith Grey for which she won aScreen Actors Guild Award. Grey became widely popular, making Pompeo one of the most renowned television actresses. In 2016, she was ranked fourth in the list of highest paid TV actresses byForbes, with earnings of $14.9 million; she became the third highest-paid female and the fifth highest-paid actor overall in 2018 with earnings of $23.6 million. She was also the highest-ranked actress from a drama series on the list.
Pompeo's other film roles include the comedyOld School (2003), the superhero filmDaredevil (2003), the caper filmArt Heist (2004), and the comedy dramaLife of the Party (2005). In addition to her acting career, she has directed two episodes ofGrey's Anatomy and founded a production company, Calamity Jane. She has been married to music producer Chris Ivery since 2007; they have three children.
Pompeo was born inEverett, Massachusetts, on November 10, 1969.[1][2] Her father was fromGesualdo, Italy and was of Italian, English, and Irish descent; and her mother of Irish ancestry.[3][4] She was raised as aCatholic.[5] Her mother died of an accidental painkiller overdose when she was four.[6] Her father remarried soon after; he died on September 1, 2012.[7] In 2006, Pompeo said, "I think having my mother die at such a very young age—when she was 39—[made me] appreciate life so much."[8] She has five older siblings: three sisters and two brothers. She was nicknamed "the pencil", and "stracciatella" (gelato flavor).[9] She worked as a bartender in Miami when she started dating her then boyfriend. They moved to New York City in 1995, where she was approached by a casting director to appear in ads forCitibank andL'Oreal.[1][10]
Pompeo's early work included advertisements and small independent films.[10] She made her television debut in 1996 by guest-starring in the NBC legal police dramaLaw & Order.[10] She made her feature film debut inComing Soon (1999), playing a small part. She made her second appearance inLaw & Order in 2000, and then guest-starred onStrangers with Candy,Strong Medicine, andFriends.[10] She then moved toLos Angeles in 2001. She participated in the filmMambo Café withThalía.[11][12]
Pompeo landed her first major role in 2005 on theABC medical drama seriesGrey's Anatomy, created byShonda Rhimes. She has played the title character and series' protagonist,Meredith Grey, a surgical intern at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital since theshow's pilot episode.[14]Grey's Anatomy was a breakout hit in 2005 and was well received by television critics.[18][19]
When the show began, Pompeo received positive feedback for her performance, withNewsday's Diane Werts writing, "star Ellen Pompeo's newly-minted Dr. Grey conveys such substance that you simply can't stop watching."[19]
Pompeo signed a new contract forGrey's Anatomy in 2011 that increased her salary to US$200,000 per episode; she was subsequently named the eighth highest-paid TV actress in 2012, earning $9 million. The contract would have her involved with the show until its 12th season.[20] Under her renewed deal of 2013, she earned $350,000 per episode, with additional payment from syndication.[21] At that point, she was ranked fourth in the list of highest-paid television actresses again in 2015, in theForbes list, with the earnings of $11.5 million.[22] Pompeo's contract with the company expired again at the end of the 12th season along with the other original cast members, and she signed a new one with an increased paycheck. She held on the fourth spot inForbes' list in 2016, bringing in $14 million, a 32% increase in the earnings from 2015.[23]
In 2007, Pompeo was honored by the National Italian American Foundation for her achievement in entertainment at a black-tie gala inWashington, D.C.[34] In the same year, show-business awards reporter Tom O'Neil commented that Pompeo was overdue for anEmmy Award nomination for her role inGrey's Anatomy.[35] The view was echoed by later critics, including Mary McNamara of theLos Angeles Times who suggested that Pompeo, "who has worked very hard and against all narrative odds to make Meredith Grey an interesting character at last" should have received a nomination at the61st Primetime Emmy Awards.[36] During the twelfth season of the show,Western Gazette's Alex Hawnkings gave Pompeo credit for carrying the show and re-iterated it was time for her to finally win anEmmy Award.[37] Readers of O'Neil's awards website,The Envelope, included Pompeo in their 2009 nominations for Best Drama Actress in the site's Gold Derby TV Awards.[38]
On October 27, 2011,Deadline Hollywood reported that Pompeo had launched her own production company called Calamity Jane which sold its first project to ABC, an untitled show about female agents on the Secretary of State's security detail.[39] During a 2014BuzzFeed event, she expressed a lack of interest in acting afterGrey's Anatomy completes its run; she explained: "I definitely feel myself transitioning. I don't find acting terribly empowering."[40][41] Since then, Pompeo has been involved in other projects as a producer and had also made her directorial debut with aGrey's Anatomy episode, from the thirteenth season.[42] In August 2014, it was announced that Pompeo was developing two dramas withABC Studios - an adaptation of Rachel Carey's 2013 novelDebt forABC Family, and an untitled female police drama for ABC.[43] Pompeo is also involved with a Spanish thrillerMotivos Personales with the London-based company, New Media Vision.[44] Pompeo appeared in themusic video forTaylor Swift's 2015 single "Bad Blood",[45] and two years later, she voiced a stuffed animal cat inDoc McStuffins.[46]
In January 2018, she renewed her contract forGrey's Anatomy, agreeing for two more seasons; she became the highest-paid actress in a television drama series, earning more than $20 million a year with the new deal. She received a sum of $575,000 per episode under her new contract and was promoted to the rank of producer for the series, which was estimated to earn her a separate $6 million to $7 million annually. She was also listed as co-producer for theGrey's Anatomy spinoff titledStation 19 and received office space for Calamity Jane atWalt Disney Studios. She wrote a piece on the issue of thegender pay gap and her new contract with ABC, which was featured as the cover story for the January 2018 issue ofThe Hollywood Reporter.[47]Forbes ranked Pompeo as the third highest female and the fifth highest actor overall on its 2018 list of highest paid TV actors on television; she had estimated earnings of US$23.5 million.[48]
In 2019, she appeared as a guest judge on thefourth season ofRuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.[49] More recently, her production company and ABC bought out the rights to the Paradise book trilogy.[50]
After starring full time in the medical series dramaGrey's Anatomy since the show's premiere in 2005, season 19 of the show marked the first time the star had a scaled back role on the television series. Pompeo was only scheduled to appear in eight episodes during that season. Pompeo will remain an executive producer on the show and continue her signature voiceovers for the show.[51]
In 2021, Pompeo toldPatrick Dempsey on her podcastTell Me with Ellen Pompeo that she remembered having an intense fight with actorDenzel Washington. Washington directed Pompeo in the 2016Grey's Anatomy episode "The Sound of Silence". During filming, Washington took issue with Pompeo improvising dialogue to which she said "listen motherfucker, this is my show. This is my set. Who are you telling? You barely know where the bathroom is." She added that while things calmed down, "[Washington] doesn't know shit about directing TV."[52] The story went viral and was heavily publicized with many accusing Pompeo of being disrespectful to Washington.[53][54][55]
Pompeo met Chris Ivery in a Los Angeles grocery store in 2003. They began dating after six months of friendship and got married in 2007, with New York City mayorMichael Bloomberg as the legal witness to the ceremony.[56] They have two daughters and a son.[57][58][59]
Pompeo criticized media reports suggesting that she suffered from aneating disorder, calling the media irresponsible for promoting such rumors. InLos Angeles Confidential Magazine in 2007, she said that she was worried about the young girls who look up to her: "I don't want them to think I starve myself or don't eat, and that to be like me that's what they have to do."[60]
Pompeo, along withShonda Rhimes and the leads of Rhimes'ABC Thursday line-up shows,Scandal'sKerry Washington andHow to Get Away With Murder'sViola Davis, appeared in an ad campaign forthe 2016 US election supportingHillary Clinton, comparing her to the protagonists of those series.[61] In the video, the actresses note thatOlivia Pope,Annalise Keating, and Meredith Grey are "brilliant" and "complex" women who fight for justice and give voice to the voiceless. Rhimes, Davis, Pompeo, and Washington each take turns speaking as they praise the presidential candidate and conclude: "Our characters are on television; the real world has Hillary Clinton." Clinton responded to the video with a tweet, "Talk about a power lineup. Thank you for being on this team!"[62]