After 20 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, Ellen Pompeo has filmed a lot of sex scenes for the ABC medical drama. Her onscreen lovers have included Patrick Dempsey, Giacomo Gianniotti, and Scott Speedman, but there’s one that stands out as the most awkward of all time: T.R. Knight. In fact, Ellen’s Grey’s Anatomy sex scene with T.R. wasn’t just so awkward it had her in tears, it also had to be reshot, extending the torture even more.
Fans of Grey’s will remember the love scene in question took place way back in season 2, when Meredith (Ellen) and George (T.R.) fell into bed together for a painfully awkward one night stand. “T.R. and I are such good friends, and we had to do a love scene. We were both crying. We cried,” Ellen revealed during a recent appearance on Call Her Daddy to promote her new show, Good American Family. “The scene was so uncomfortable and awkward. He didn’t want to do that. I didn’t wanna do it, and when we filmed it, it was so bad.”
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In a cruel twist of fate, or what Ellen called her “worst nightmare,” the pair had to reshoot the entire scene after receiving a note from ABC. “The network said there was too much thrusting,” she said. And so, back to work they went.
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The awkwardness was helpful in one aspect, however. In the scene, Meredith realizes that she still misses Derek and she breaks down and cries. “I’ve never seen it. I don’t know how it was shot or covered or what the end, how it was edited, but I’m full on in tears the whole entire scene,” she said. “Those are real tears.”
Despite the unfortunate event that was their sex scene, Ellen and T.R. have remained close. In 2020, following his surprise return to Grey’s Anatomy, T.R. praised Ellen on Instagram, calling her “the kind of actor I’m endlessly grateful to act with.” He continued, “She’s the embodiment of truth. George and Meredith love each other, for sure, but I don’t think he can hold a candle to love I have for Ellen.”
