The actress reveals she has yet to see the ‘final cut’ of Pompeo’s goodbye episode and ‘won’t see it until everybody else sees it.'
Today's the day Meredith Grey says farewell to Seattle.
Grey's Anatomy kicks off the second half of season 19 with a big goodbye (for now) to Ellen Pompeo's titular character as she begins a new chapter in Boston. While Pompeo won't be a regular presence at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital following Thursday's winter premiere, the actress will continue to narrate the series and fulfill her executive producing duties.
ET's Will Marfuggi recently spoke with longtime Grey's star Chandra Wilson about Pompeo's final episode as a series regular and she said the hour, titled "I'll Follow the Sun," will be filled with nostalgia.
"When are we not ever nostalgic, right? When do we not ever throw you back to the beginning and bring you into the present?" Wilson teased. "So I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot of that."
The 53-year-old actress revealed producers are keeping Pompeo's farewell episode close to the vest until it airs Thursday evening.
"They're not even showing that final cut to us. So we won't see it until everybody else sees it, but it's a really exciting time," Wilson shared.
As Wilson explains, Meredith's move to the East Coast is an organic development in the character's journey over the last 19 seasons -- and she maintains the doctor will never stay far from Seattle for long.
"Even Meredith says, 'Look, I'll be back next week or next month.' But for the character, it's such an interesting journey, when you have to say, 'Wait a minute, I have to take care of my family and I have to do what my family needs and that takes me someplace else and then I can figure out another way to fulfill my profession,'" she said. "That's great because don't we all face that? Dr. Bailey even faces that, so I love that we can continue to do those kinds of stories with our characters."
Pompeo is stepping back from Grey's after nearly two decades leading the show, appearing in just eight episodes this current season. The return episode has been billed as Meredith Grey's goodbye, leaving some to believe it to be a permanent departure, but Pompeo has promised that she'll visit and a teaser even hinted at a return.
"For the record, it's not really my final," Pompeo told ET at the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2023 Fashion Show in New York earlier this month. "It's a little bit of a trick they're playing on people." She did confirm, however, that she won't be around in the interim: "It is my final episode for a while."
Pompeo is expected to appear in one more episode of Grey's before season 19 wraps with the possibility for future visits down the line. She already has a new project lined up: an eight-episode Hulu limited series about orphans.
Grey's Anatomy returns Thursday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
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