Ellen Pompeo has created many memorable and quotable moments as the iconic Meredith Grey over the years but she’s not the biggest fan of her most famous one-liner.
Many would even argue that Meredith’s ‘Pick me. Choose me. Love me’ scene from all the way back in season two remains one of the most unforgettable moments in the show’s entire history.
However, it turns out Ellen wasn’t a fan of the emotional scene between her character and onscreen love interest Dr Derek Shepard, AKA McDreamy, going as far as to say she was ‘horrified’ by the script.
‘There was a lot of stuff that I didn’t wanna do at the time. I didn’t wanna say, “Pick me, choose me, love me.” She [Shonda] knew that was gonna pop.
Ellen Pompeo hated this Grey’s Anatomy scene
‘I was like, “Why would I do this? Why would I beg, why would I?” And you know, you have to just suck it up and do it.
‘And it ended up being, you know, the biggest thing ever, the most iconic things ever. So, I’m not always the best judge of, you know, what’s gonna [work].’
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Alex also asked Ellen what advice she’d give to Meredith now if she was faced with the situation of asking him to pick between her and his wife. Ellen didn’t hesitate to reply ‘girl, bye’ and yes, Ellen!
Ellen also reflected on the famous line on her podcast Tell Me in 2021 where she said: ‘When I read that scene, I was horrified. I was like, “I’m gonna beg a man?” And then on top of it, you know, it’s like Meredith’s sobbing.
‘I don’t know if it was in the script or not, or the on-set producers wanted me to cry when I was doing the scene.
‘And what’s funny about that scene is I’m bawling my eyes out, but I’m bawling not for the reasons in the scene. I’m bawling because I was like, “I can’t believe that I’m on TV begging a man to love me”.’
When the scene between Mer and Der took place, the later was struggling over whether to divorce his wife Addison or to pursue his love for the new intern who had stolen his heart.
Afraid of being left heartbroken and losing her Dr McDreamy forever, Meredith confronted Derek outside the OR and tearfully begged him to sign the divorce papers and to ‘choose’ her.
It seems that Ellen’s daughter Stella Ivery is following in her mom’s footsteps and also was shocked by the scene. Speaking in 2021, Ellen explained that while she hadn’t let the teenager watch the show yet, Stella came across the scene on TikTok and asked her mom why she was begging a man to love her.
‘I was like “Well, praise Jesus that she’s asking me this question and that her head is already in the right space”.’ Ellen said, adding that she was forced to tell Stella she ‘didn’t write it’ and ‘didn’t want to do it.’
