The leading lady jokes that her husband told her 'this is not what I signed up for.'
Ellen Pompeo is sharing her husband Chris Ivery's thoughts on her steamy Grey's Anatomy sex scenes. The 51-year-old actress has led the ABC medical drama as Meredith Grey for 16 years, and opened up about how Ivery used to get jealous of her on-screen smooches with her leading man, Patrick Dempsey.
"Poor guy had no idea what he was getting into," Pompeo said of her husband's feelings about her kissing scenes, during the latest episode of Ladies First with Laura Brown podcast. "I remember in the beginning it was really hard for him. He was like, 'This is not what I signed up for. You go to work and make out with that. I like Patrick and everything, he's a good dude, but like really?'"
"He was really a trooper. He's my favorite person," she added.
Pompeo and Ivery met in 2002 with Grey's premiering in 2005. Pompeo and Ivery got married in November 2007, and are parents to daughters Stella Luna, 11, and Sienna, 6, and Eli, 4.
During the 17th season of Grey's, Dempsey's character, Derek Shepherd -- who died in season 11, six years ago -- returned as a pseudo-angel in Meredith coma dream, as she battled COVID-19. Derek and Meredith finally tied the knot in her fantasy beachside dreamscape, giving fans a moment that they never thought they would see.
And while Pompeo has been surrounded with a stellar cast throughout her Grey's journey, she expressed in the podcast that the original cast's chemistry was special.
"During the early days we all really had something. We had a lot of fun back then," she shared, also noting some insight she's learned over the years from being on the Grey's set. "I can see people now in a work environment and really see how they're performing. I know how sets run, and I know when someone is burnt out. I know when someone is afraid to speak up, and I know when someone is bored and not contributing. I know when a director's phoning it in. I can see people's behavior pretty clearly."
Pompeo, meanwhile, will continue to lead the medical drama for another season. Grey's was officially renewed for season 18 on May 10 with the actress being joined by fellow OGs Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr.
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