Ellen Pompeo Got ‘Frustrated’ by ‘Grey’s’ for Not Letting Meredith ‘Figure Out How to Make a Relationship Work’: She Can ‘Stop Making Bad Decisions’
Zack Sharf Digital News Director Ellen Pompeo’s Meredith Grey had many love interests over 19 seasons of “Grey’s Anatomy,” from Patrick Dempsey’s Derek Shepherd to Scott Speedman’s Nick Marsh, but such constant relationship conflict ultimately became a source of frustration for the actor. During a “Grey’s” reunion interview with Katherine Heigl as part ofVariety’s “Actors on Actors” series, Pompeo lamented over Meredith’s lack of growth in her love life. “When you stay on a show and with a character that long…for me, I really need to make sense of things and I really need to see evolution and growth,” Pompeo said. “And with network television specifically, there has to be some consistency for the audience. The audience wants familiarity. The writers get stuck in the consistency of something, and it’s harder, which I always would argue against and say, ‘We have such an incredible fan base. They’re so loyal. They’ll literally come along with us no matter what we do.’ I think it’s okay for Meredith to stop making bad decisions.”