Ellen Pompeo Admits Grey’s Anatomy Feels ‘Different’ Now, Reacts to Justin Chambers' Controversial Exit

Ellen Pompeo, the actress behind ABC's wildly popular Grey's Anatomy has opened up about he thoughts on the state of the series following original cast member Justin Chambers' exit.

Pompeo says the show feels "different" now in an interview with Variety for an Instagram Live session.

Grey's Anatomy Season 16 was forced to wrap with 21 of 25 produced due to the coronavirus pandemic, and Pompeo has said that she wishes she had "appreciated" the first six seasons of the show.

“The show back then was just so, so, so, so good. I wish we had an appreciation for it then about how good it was,” she said.

“I don’t think we did, I don’t think any of us did. There was too much s**t going on. It was too big, it was too hot, it was too fast and there was just so much going on in the beginning."

"It was more attention and more work than any of us had ever experienced or done in our life,” she continued.

Pompeo said that this could be attributed to the cast being "exhausted" in the early days, noting that they didn't have the time to notice "how good" the series was.

“I wish we had appreciated it for really how good it was, because — man, the show was fantastic back then. It’s almost like a different show now and it’s great for other reasons."

"But my point is, I’m happy with the way it ended because I think that Alex going back to be with Izzie [Stevens, portrayed by Katherine Heigl] is an homage to those first days of that show. The first six seasons, with that original cast, are just fantastic.”

Medical dramas also have a knack for tackling current events in the medical world, and Pompeo was asked whether she thinks Gey's will take on the coronavirus in a future episode.

“I don’t know. I thought about it. Obviously, we don’t want to get too political here, but I was just watching the news and I saw clip of Barack Obama in 2014, saying that a pandemic was inevitable and that we should be prepared for it,” she said.

“The fact that five years later we’re not prepared, some people dropped the ball for sure. It’s disappointing.”

Pompeo went on to praise the healthcare workers fighting tooth and nail to save people from the virus.

“Can you imagine having to suit up and walk straight into a hospital every single day and deal with sick person, after sick person, after sick person?"

"We don’t know sacrifice. Sitting in our houses, being bored, not having anything to do, being alone and loneliness is a real thing, and I don’t certainly want to downplay that."

"And I don’t want to also downplay people financially struggling,” Ellen said, expounding as follows:

“Our healthcare professionals, the fact that they’re fighting this fight unprepared without the proper gear is really heartbreaking for me."

When people are struggling, if you’re struggling, I think it’s always helpful to think of someone else and think of what you could do for someone else.”

What do you think of all this intel from Pompeo?

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Remember you can watch Grey's Anatomy online right here via TV Fanatic.