"I wanted to sort of do a truthful interview and talk about my road to my own empowerment and how I got there."
Ellen Pompeo is not shying away from opening up about how she came to earn $20 million.
The Grey's Anatomy star appeared on Thursday's Jimmy Kimmel Live and talked about what it was like to disclose her salary, among other things, in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
"I'm grateful that it was received in the way in which I intended it to be, which was as an empowering story for women and to also be very honest about my faults and my shortcomings," she told Kimmel, admitting she was initially "nervous."
Pompeo further explained, "I think that there's a lot of blame, especially right now. People are blaming people. There's a lot of finger pointing, but there's less people owning up to their side of things. I wanted to sort of do a truthful interview and talk about my road to my own empowerment and how I got there, but also mistakes I've made along the way."
The 48-year-old actress also encouraged, as she did in the article, for women to ask for what they deserve.
"As women, you know, it's not only about what's done to us or what's not given to us. It's what don't we ask for," she told Kimmel. "I think that as much as we can point the finger at other people and [say], ‘You don't give us or you don't treat us fairly' ...We also have to point the finger at ourselves and say, ‘Did we ask? Did we step up and have the gumption to ask for what a man would?' We have to own part of it. Sometimes we're too shy, we're too afraid to be seen as difficult,to really speak our mind."
Pompeo then praised Grey's Anatomy showrunner Shonda Rhimes and those at ABC, noting, "I think it's reflective from the top down."
The mother of three is now the highest-paid actress on a primetime drama.
Last November, the Grey's Anatomy cast celebrated an incredible 300 episodes. Pompeo told ET that she was still shocked by the longevity of the show.
Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8/7 Central on ABC.
Check out our interview with the beloved stars of the series:
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