Ellen Pompeo has no plans to fully leave Grey's Anatomy

Ellen Pompeo had admitted it would make "no sense" for her to ever fully leave Grey's Anatomy.

The actress has starred as Dr. Meredith Grey in the medical drama since its premiere in 2005, with her going on to become one of TV's highest-paid stars.

But while Ellen announced in 2022 that she would be scaling back her role on the popular show from season 19 onwards, during a recent interview for Spanish publication El País, she conceded that she has no plans to depart the series entirely.

"That would make no sense, emotionally or financially. The show was streamed more than a billion times in 2024. More than a billion times," she said. "The companies that own the show and stream the show make a lot of money from our images and our voices and our faces. If I were to walk away completely, everybody gets to make money from my hard work for 20 years and I wouldn't make any money. To me, it doesn't make any sense that everybody (else) gets to profit off of my hard work."

Ellen still narrates most episodes, serves as an executive producer, and makes the occasional on-screen appearance.

And she went on to indicate that many fans would be disappointed if Meredith would no longer be on their screens too.

"Emotionally, the show means a lot to people. I want to have an attitude of gratitude toward the show," the 55-year-old continued.

Ellen is currently appearing as Kristine Barnett in Hulu's limited series Good American Family.

Accordingly, the star explained that she was open to taking on the role because it was such a contrast to her previous work.

"Well, this is a limited series, so I won't appear as this character again. I was just looking for something that was very different from Meredith Grey, and this offer presented itself," she smiled.

Good American Family premiered in March.