Ellen Pompeo hates seeing herself age on screen

Ellen Pompeo has hated watching herself age on TV over the last 15 years.

The 50-year-old actress has played Dr. Meredith Grey on the long-running U.S. drama series Grey's Anatomy since 2005, and she confessed that watching herself age "from 33 to 50 on screen (is) not so fun".

"You really see (the difference) because I'm in the same clothes (playing) the same character," Pompeo told Dax Shepard during a recent episode of his Armchair Expert podcast. "So the way I see myself ageing - it's a motherf**ker!"

She also discussed how long she thinks she'll remain on the show, after becoming the longest serving member of the original cast, following the departures of Sandra Oh, Patrick Dempsey and Justin Chambers.

"I do not want to be the grapes dying on the vine," she quipped. "Certainly, to dip out sooner rather than later at this point... (and) leave while the show is still on top is definitely a goal. I'm not trying to stay on the show forever. No way.

"If I get too aggravated and am no longer grateful there, I should not be there.”

The mother-of-three previously opened up on ageing in front of audiences on the medical drama series, and said that it was saddening to see fellow actresses become obsessed with their looks.

“I think as an actor flaws are a necessity,” Pompeo told Good Morning America back in 2016. “Nobody is perfect, and I'm not and I'm OK with that.”