Ellen Pompeo seems to have opened up about alot of things most people in the Hollywood industry have been shying away from, as she revealed in a recent interview that her last 10 out of her 15years experience on Grey’s Anatomy, has been toxic in alot of ways.
Ellen Pompeo who appeared on Variety magazine Actors on Actors somehow opened some cans of warms as she got real in her responses, especially about her former co-star, Patrick Dempsey.
Taraji P. Henson and Ellen Pompeo two famous females on TV, spoke about the industry and all the inequality, and racial issues, on the interview.
Ellen Pompeo was asked by Taraji P Henson about her character in Grey’s Anatomy for 15-years saying:
“Ellen, we’ve been living with your character for 15 years now. How was the character written on the page?
Ellen Pompeo answered:
” When I read the script, the thing that stood out was that it was the lead character. I had been in a bunch of movies, but just the girlfriend or the wife. And then — listen, the nature of how she’s evolved is that I’m 15 years older. What about you when you read the pilot for “Empire”? She asked Taraji
Taraji:” I thought, “The NAACP, they’re going to get me for this one.” She calls one son, who’s gay, the F-bomb, and she beats one son with a broom. This is something that has never been shown on national television — certainly not by a black woman. When you’re a person of colour, you have to be careful about the roles you pick. You want to uplift the people. Once I got past the fear, I was able to really see her. I didn’t want just black people to identify with her. I wanted every mother in the world to understand the sacrifices that only mothers can make.
Taraji added further:
“We’re going into our sixth season. How did you do 15? Was there any moment where you were like, “Child, I want off this bus” she asked Ellen Pompeo to which she answered:
“There were many moments. It’s funny: I never wanted off the bus in the year that I could get off. The first 10 years we had serious culture issues, very bad behavior, really toxic work environment. But once I started having kids, it became no longer about me. I need to provide for my family”.
Taraji: I know that.
Ellen Pompeo continued:
“At 40 years old, where am I ever going to get this kind of money? I need to take care of my kids. But after Season 10, we had some big shifts in front of the camera, behind the camera. It became my goal to have an experience there that I could be happy and proud about, because we had so much turmoil for 10 years. My mission became, this can’t be fantastic to the public and a disaster behind the scenes. Shonda Rhimes and I decided to rewrite the ending of this story. That’s what’s kept me. Patrick Dempsey left the show in Season 11, and the studio and network believed the show could not go on without the male lead. So I had a mission to prove that it could. I was on a double mission.” she said
Taraji asked:
“Were you and Patrick getting paid the same in the beginning?
Ellen had this to say:
“He was being paid almost double what I was in the beginning. He had a television quote. I had never done TV.
Taraji: I know that story. Is there wine in this cup?
Ellen Pompeo: “He’s done 13 pilots.” Well, none of them have gone. I didn’t even realize until we were renegotiating Season 3. No one was offering that up”
Taraji:
” I don’t know if I could do 15 seasons of Cookie”
Ellen Pompeo then asked: ‘Are you involved in your storyline at all?
Taraji: Absolutely. No one knows Cookie better than me.
Ellen Pompeo also spoke about not being challenged creatively saying:
“I haven’t been challenged creatively at all. Every once in a while we do an amazing storyline. But for the last five years, I’ve had other milestones that we were trying to achieve behind the camera.
Taraji then shared her own challenge:
“For me, one of our proudest moments was with gay marriage. Because we didn’t know how the black community would accept Jamal, the gay son [played by Jussie Smollett, who since this conversation has not been asked back to the sixth and final season of the show], because it’s so taboo. There’s still the homophobes on Twitter, but those are small voices compared to the resounding voices of love that he gets, the character. I’m just proud to be a part of this show that’s not afraid to get people talking. That’s the only way you’re going to get change.” she said
EP: We have the most incredible community of actresses right now. Everybody is just pushing and taking all these old stereotypes and throwing them out the window.
TpH: I don’t want anyone that looks like me, or any woman at 40, to feel they have to stop being sexy on-screen. I’m not ready to just collect a check. I want to open films. I’ll be 49 this year.
Ellen Pompeo: Me too.
Taraji: And we still have an audience.
Ellen: We still have an audience.
Taraji: We’re still bankable, and we’re still sexy as hell.