Ellen Pompeo Gets Real About Her ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Exit: ‘Felt Like an Animal at the Zoo’

When Ellen Pompeo decided to step away from her long-standing series, Grey’s Anatomy, it wasn’t necessarily a surprise. Finally, she addresses what pushed her to take a backseat in the Shonda Rhimes medical drama. Pompeo recently went on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast to shed some light on her state of mind when relinquishing her lead role in the popular series. The actor is still recurring as Dr. Meredith Grey in the series but is not the main force of the series like she once was. Pompeo explained to podcast host Alex Cooper what motivated her to leave the series.

“I didn’t know what I was going to do. I just knew that I really couldn’t do Grey’s anymore. It was to the point where I really just felt like an animal at the zoo. I’m a big believer in destiny. I thought, if there’s something else I’m meant to do, it’s gonna find me. But I know I have to leave this.”

At the time of her scaling back her role, Pompeo was one of the few remaining original cast members of the series that debuted in 2005. T.R. Knight famously left the series in a traumatic fashion during Season 5, while Sandra Oh stayed on the series for 10 years before her departure. Pompeo’s status as the titular character may have made leaving the series a difficult decision. It is a rarity that any series makes it to a tenth season, let alone a twentieth. Even so, no one can begrudge Pompeo’s decision, and, true to her word, she found another project to take part in quickly.

Ellen Pompeo Has a New Series on Hulu

Ellen Pompeo can still be found in the halls of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, but fans can also catch her in a new series for Hulu. Entitled Good American Family, the show is a fictionalized account of the headline-grabbing tale of Natalia Grace. The true story became famous after the Barnett family adopted someone who appeared to be a young girl with dwarfism. The intrigue gets stranger when the family becomes concerned that Natalia is actually an adult masquerading as a child. The story had strange similarities with the horror film, Orphan, which came out some years prior.

Pompeo plays Kristine Barnett, the matriarch of the family who adopts Natalia and eventually is accused of abuse and abandoning her adoptive daughter. Good American Family is about as fair from Grey’s Anatomy as Pompeo could get, and it will be a refreshing viewing for fans. Pompeo can also be seen on Season 21 of Grey’s Anatomy airing on ABC.