Uh oh, Grey’s fans… could the end be near for our favorite doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital? In a disarmingly honest new interview with Entertainment Weekly, series lead Ellen Pompeo certainly seems to suggest as much.
As you may recall, news broke in January that Pompeo had renewed her current contract to include two more seasons. As part of the deal, she would also serve as a producer on Grey’s and a co-executive producer on Grey’s spinoff Station 19. Per Deadline, the $20 million per year deal likely made Pompeo the highest paid actress on television.
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Shortly after that exciting revelation, ABC officially renewed its flagship medi-drama through the upcoming 15th season, making it the longest running primetime drama in the network’s history. At the time, when asked if the show would end after this new deal expired, Pompeo replied, “I’ve been saying since season one, ‘We have two more years.’ This show, it’s taking on a life of its own, and who knows? We take it season by season.”
And, well, it looks as though Pompeo, series creator Shonda Rhimes and ABC may have reached the season when they’re ready to stop. Speaking to EW, Pompeo seemed to suggest a decision had already been made but that they simply hadn’t yet made it official.
“I’m clearly not prepared right now to make any kind of formal announcement about what my future is on the show, but I am really feeling like we have told the majority of the stories we can tell,” she said. “It’s about time that I mix it up. I’m definitely looking for a change.”
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Could this really be happening? After all this time and all the tears, will fans soon have to say goodbye to our beloved Grey’s? While rumors about the show ending have made the rounds before, hearing those words come out of Pompeo’s mouth make this time feel far more credible.
And although we hate the idea of not getting to see Meredith and the gang on our screens each week, we get it. These actors have been inhabiting these characters for over a decade. They might really be ready to challenge themselves in new ways.
If you’re thinking perhaps there’s a chance the show could go on without Pompeo (or perhaps with Pompeo moving behind the camera full-time), don’t count on it.
“Ellen and I have a pact that I’m going to do the show as long as she’s going to do the show,” Rhimes told E! News in November 2017. “So the show will exist as long as both of us want to do it. If she wants to stop, we’re stopping. So I don’t know if we’ll see 600, but I want to keep it feeling fresh. As long as there are fresh stories to tell and as long as we’re both excited about the stories being told, we’re in. So, we’ll see where that takes us.”
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That quote seems pretty ominous now that Pompeo has gone on the record to say she feels like they’re run out of stories to tell, no?
It’s not all bad news out of the Grey’s camp today, though. For starters, we can rest a little easy knowing that the upcoming season won’t be the last — we still get at least one more. And, hallelujah, Grey’s finally returns to our screens on Thursday for the premiere of season 15.
Have your box of tissues at the ready!
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