Ellen Pompeo will admit that she never imagined she'd still be playing Meredith Grey 17 years after Grey’s Anatomy premiered on ABC in 2005. Today, 18 seasons later, the 52-year-old actress is essential to the hit medical drama, but the possibility of the show coming to an end is never far from her mind. Now that Grey’s fans are starting to talk about a potential 19th season, Ellen is sharing her honest thoughts about the future of the series.
Around the time Grey’s Anatomy season 18 went on a hiatus in December — set to return in late February — Ellen revealed to Insider that she was determined to get everyone on the same page about the show’s ending. The mother of three shared that although she doesn’t know how Meredith’s story is going to conclude, she wants viewers to experience it sooner rather than later.
“I’ve been trying to focus on convincing everybody that it should end,” Ellen told the outlet. “I feel like I’m the super naive one who keeps saying, ‘But what’s the story going to be, what story are we going to tell?’ And everyone’s like, ‘Who cares, Ellen? It makes a gazillion dollars.'”
Over on Twitter, Grey’s fans have been asking for season 19 updates and many are keeping their fingers crossed.
“I am currently manifesting a season 19 #GreysAnatomy,” one person wrote. “Dear @EllenPompeo I see you setting everyone up in a happy ever after scenario. That is fine, but only if you keep taking us on the ride to season 19,” another added. “My weekly plea to @ABCNetwork. Please Renew @GreysABC. I have an idea. Renew for 2 more seasons. Seasons 19 & 20. @EllenPompeo wouldn't have to be in every episode. She's in Minnesota. Build up to season 20 which would be the last. Come on ABC. Let's do this,” a different fan said.
Almost a decade into Grey’s, Ellen began opening up about how much longer she wanted to keep portraying the titular character. In January 2014, she said she was considering quitting acting after the series finished. Ellen later shared in February 2016 that she and Grey’s creator/executive producer Shonda Rhimes planned to make a unified decision about the show concluding.
“Shonda and I talk about [the end],” Ellen told Cosmopolitan. “We feel like we're in this together, and I think we don't want to do the show without each other. I think when either of us is ready, when we feel like it's time to wrap it up [we will].”
Season after season, Grey’s fans have heard Ellen express this sentiment. That said, Ellen has acknowledged that showrunner and executive producer Krista Vernoff and ABC will also have a say about the ending. While Ellen has been signing two-year contracts the past several seasons, after her latest one expired in 2020, the network announced in May 2021 that she had signed on for one year to do season 18. Most recently, in late December, Deadline reported that Ellen and ABC had started talking about a possible season 19.
Folks will have to standby to find out if Ellen will give them new episodes for just one more installment or if the end of the show is really here.
