Ellen Pompeo not leaving Grey’s Anatomy, but taking lesser role
According to a report from Deadline, the longtime series star is only going to appear in eight episodes of the upcoming 19th season, though she will remain the narrator and an executive producer behind the scenes. What’s the reason for that? She is taking on a role on a still-untitled Hulu series based on the story of Ukranian-born Natalia Grace and her US adoptive parents. That is a project that will run for eight episodes and take a good bit of her time, which makes some sense, all things considered.
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The closest comparison we can think of to Ellen’s move here is what happened with NCIS and Mark Harmon last year, where he left the show after four episodes but remains an executive producer. Perhaps we should have seen the writing on the wall here with Grey’s Anatomy when the ABC drama hired a crop of new residents, including some fairly familiar faces such as Harry Shum Jr. of Glee / Shadowhunters fame. Ellen is the big selling point for Grey’s Anatomy, and she is also one of the most successful performers working in television. We can’t speak to how the series will fare without her on-screen, but there have been episodes without Meredith over the years.
In the end, it’s hard to blame Pompeo for wanting to explore other things; she has spent the past couple of decades giving her heart and soul to this show and also the fans. She of course deserves the opportunity to take on new challenges and test herself in different ways as a performer.
Production on the medical drama kicks off this week, and we are going to see it premiere in October alongside its spin-off in Station 19.
Related – Get some more news on Grey’s Anatomy, including info on some of the new cast members coming on board
What do you think is going to happen with Ellen Pompeo taking on a lesser role on Grey’s Anatomy season 19?
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