Ellen Pompeo Recounts "Uncomfortable" Grey's Anatomy Sex Scene

Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo recounts an uncomfortable sex scene from the soapy hospital drama, explaining why she wasn’t a fan of it. Pompeo is readying to take on her first major television role since first appearing as Meredith Grey two decades ago, leading the new Hulu drama Good American Family. But even though she hasn’t taken a step back from Grey’s, appearing in a recurring capacity while continuing to narrate and executive produce the series, she still has plenty of thoughts to share about the stories that Meredith has been a part of.

In an interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast (via Variety), Pompeo recounted the sex scene that Meredith has with George (T.R. Knight) in the season 2 episode “What Have I Done To Deserve This?” and revealed that she and Knight didn’t want to do it. Though she is friends with Knight, Pompeo talks in the quote below about why the scene was “so uncomfortable” and says she’s never seen it:

“T.R. and I are such good friends and we had to do a love scene and we were both crying. The scene was so uncomfortable and awkward. He didn’t want to do that, I didn’t want to do it. When we filmed it, it was so bad. And then the network said there was too much thrusting.”

“In your worst nightmare to have to do it one time, we had to reshoot that s–t… I’ve never watched that scene. I’ve never seen it. I don’t know how it was shot or covered or how it was edited but I’m full-on in tears the whole entire scene and those are real tears. There was a lot of stuff that I didn’t want to do at the time.”

What The George & Meredith Hookup Meant For The Show

It Was An Unpopular Storyline

George and Meredith sleeping together is a culmination of the fact that George was in love with her in the show’s earliest days. In typical Grey’s fashion, and as Pompeo alludes to in her comments, the hook-up was messy and left a few shockwaves. It took a bit for the pair to get back to the friendship that the drama’s fans would recognize today, with George visiting Meredith on the beach. Pompeo and Knight weren’t the only ones opposed to the awkward one-night stand.

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Tony Phelan, a former producer and showrunner on Grey’s, has discussed not being in favor of the George and Meredith story. He worried about what it do to the characters and their relationship, though series creator Shonda Rhimes felt it was necessary to test their bond and see what would happen as a result. On the whole, it provided a jolt of drama but the situation settled back down to normal.

It’s Part Of A Larger Story

On the podcast, Pompeo talked about a pay disparity with Grey’s Anatomy co-star Patrick Dempsey. Now, as a producer and one of the most tenured talents on television, it’s likely that the awkward hook-up would not unfold in the same way if it happened later on in the show’s run. It might be the better choice since it didn’t really mean anything for the Meredith and George relationship in the long run.

Source: Call Her Daddy

Grey’s Anatomy

9/10

Release Date: March 27, 2005
Directors: Rob Corn, Kevin McKidd, Debbie Allen, Chandra Wilson, Allison Liddi-Brown, Jeannot Szwarc, Tony Phelan
Writers: Shonda Rhimes, Julie Wong, Jen Klein, Tameson Duffy, Meg Marinis