Meredith Grey is here to stay at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital — for at least two more seasons.
Deadline reported that the star of "Grey's Anatomy," Ellen Pompeo, has signed on to continue her role for another two years. She'll also be permanently adding the title of "producer" to her credits on the series, while also being bumped to executive producer on the forthcoming firefighter spinoff series.
In addition to growing her resume, Pompeo stands to rake in $575,000 per episode, which comes to $20 million a year, making her the highest-paid actress on a primetime TV drama. The show already holds the title of ABC’s highest-rated series.
Pompeo's pay wasn't a given, however. Like many women, she had to fight to be paid adequately, particularly compared to her male counterparts.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Wednesday, the actress said she's now comfortable asking to be paid what she's worth.
“I’m 48 now, so I’ve finally gotten to the place where I’m OK asking for what I deserve, which is something that comes only with age,” Pompeo said.
“For me, Patrick (Dempsey) leaving the show (in 2015) was a defining moment, deal-wise. They could always use him as leverage against me: ‘We don’t need you; we have Patrick,’ which they did for years. I don’t know if they also did that to him, because he and I never discussed our deals. There were many times where I reached out about joining together to negotiate, but he was never interested in that. At one point, I asked for $5,000 more than him just on principle, because the show is ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and I'm Meredith Grey. They wouldn’t give it to me. And I could have walked away, so why didn’t I? It’s my show; I’m the No. 1. I’m sure I felt what a lot of these other actresses feel: ‘Why should I walk away from a great part because of a guy?’You feel conflicted but then you figure, ‘I’m not going to let a guy drive me out of my own house.’”
Pompeo said that once series creator Shonda Rhimes became more successful and had more control, it brushed off on her and allowed her to have more say in her own career.
“ (Shonda) got to a place where she was so empowered that she was generous with her power. Now, what did that look like? It looked like her letting me be the highest-paid woman on television, letting me be a producer on this show, letting me be a co-executive producer on the spinoff and signing off on the deal that the studio gave me, which is unprecedented.”
While Pompeo is excited to keep the show going, she makes no promises about when it will eventually end.
"I've been saying since season one, 'We have two more years.' This show, it's taking on a life of its own, and who knows? We take it season by season,really," she told Deadline.
Pompeo added, “You never think TV shows are going to go this long. Of course not, never, and especially me, I don’t ever assume things like that. I assume tomorrow everyone’s going to hate us. You got to try. You got to stay humble.”
“I’m extremely proud of the show and everyone that has worked on it in the past, everybody who’s here now,” she said, sharing that she’ll definitely let her children — Stella, 8; Sienna, 3; and Eli, 1, with husband Chris Ivery — watch when they’re old enough.
“It’s the beginning of a movement, and it’s so special to me for so many reasons. So I certainly hope they watch every episode twice,” Pompeo said.
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