Ellen Pompeo May Quit Acting After ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Ends: I Have ‘No Desire’ To Continue

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Ellen Pompeo is opening up about her career and breaking our hearts in the process. The Grey’s Anatomy star has been on the series since it debuted in 2005, and while the show is still going strong 17 seasons in, when it does eventually end, Ellen may quit acting.

“I’m not saying I’ll never act again, I very well may, but I’m not super excited about continuing my acting career,” she said during an appearance on the Ladies First with Laura Brown podcast. “I’m more entrepreneurial at this stage. I’m excited about investing in businesses, and starting business. That’s an area of growth that I’m excited about, using my brain in a different way.”

“The acting I feel like, even though I haven’t done a million different roles, I feel like I’ve done it,” the actress, 51, continued. “Sitting around in trailers, traveling around, shooting this in Atlanta, shooting that in Vancouver. I have no desire to go sit in trailers at 11 o’clock at night and wait to shoot scenes and have ADs knock on my door and tell me when I can eat lunch. You know, it’s for the young at heart. It’s for the youth!”

Furthermore, Ellen accepts that she may only be known for playing Meredith Grey from this day forward. It’s something she used to worry about, but now she’s come to terms with it. She explained, “When I was in my 30s, I absolutely saw myself as in a box. That’s why I stayed on the show, because I said, ‘Holy s**t. By the time I can negotiate my contract again and get out of this I’m going to be almost 40 years old. I am super typecast in this role. I am 40, so I’m never going to work again’. Even 15 years ago, the thought of being 40 was, like, you’re over as an actress. Now that I’m 50, I don’t see myself that way at all. I think of myself that I can do whatever I want, or I can do nothing at all, quite honestly.”

Ellen got her first big break when she appeared on a 1996 episode of Law & Order. She also appeared in an episode of Friends before landing the role of Meredith Grey on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. Season 18 of the long-running medical drama is scheduled to premiere in Sept. 2021.