TV & Movies
Ellen Pompeo Cried Real Tears During This “Awkward” Grey’s Anatomy Scene
Nearly two decades later, the star recalled filming Meredith and George’s controversial tryst.
While Grey’s Anatomy has produced several swoon-worthy romances, viewers generally don’t love Meredith and George’s one-time tryst in Season 2. Ellen Pompeo wasn’t a fan either, she revealed in a March 19 appearance on Call Her Daddy.
To recap: In Season 2’s “Yesterday,” Meredith had just confronted her father — and was grappling with her breakup from Derek — when George declared his feelings for her.
“I know I’m not a world-renowned surgeon,” he said. “And I know I’m not a lot of things that you have gone for in the past. I know. But I would never leave you. I would never hurt you. And I will never stop loving you.”
The pair slept together. But a flashback in the next episode revealed it wasn’t a happy experience.
As Pompeo shared on Call Her Daddy, both she and T.R. Knight — who played George, and is Pompeo’s good friend — were apprehensive about filming the scene.
“We cried. And the scene was so uncomfortable and awkward,” she said. “He didn’t want to do that, I didn’t want to do it. When we filmed it, it was so bad. And then the network said there was too much thrusting. In your worst nightmare to have to do it one time — we had to reshoot that sh*t.”
Looking Back
To this day, Pompeo has never watched Meredith and George’s sex scene. But she did recall, “I’m full on in tears the whole entire scene. And those are real tears.”
It’s not the only time Pompeo’s real-life emotions made their way into a scene. As she previously shared on her podcast, she hated the “Pick me. Choose me. Love me” scene so much that her “horrified” reaction made it into the final cut.
“I’m bawling my eyes out, but not for the reasons in the scene,” she said. “I’m bawling because I was like, I can’t believe that I’m on TV begging a man to love me.”
While she wasn’t a fan of the scene, Pompeo has since acknowledged its viral grip on fans.
“To [creator Shonda Rhimes’] credit, she knew that was going to pop,” Pompeo said on Call Her Daddy. “I was like, Why would I do this? Why would I beg? And it ended up being the biggest thing ever, the most iconic thing ever.”
