TV“The mouth mask helped, but it was not exactly a pleasant experience.” Ellen Pompeo (53) and Katherine Heigl (44), Meredith Gray and Izzie Stevens from ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, have spoken candidly about the hospital series in ‘Variety’. “I didn’t expect all these bad reactions.”
In their interview with ‘Variety’, the two talk about the special working conditions they had to deal with. For example, they had to work with animal entrails on a regular basis. “They often lay under a lamp for hours. The stench was just awful,” said Pompeo. “You may have a mask on, but even then it was not really a pleasant experience. After such long shooting days, your feet were often tired. And then you stand there staring at a cow’s stomach.”
Something Katherine Heigl can remember all too well. “During the filming of the second season, we worked so unhygienic.” She continues: “There were cow entrails everywhere and we were just eating our noodles. In the end, we all just didn’t care anymore.”
Ellen Pompeo and Katherine Heigl also talk about the many criticisms they have faced. Heigl in particular had a hard time in the past. “I was so naive,” she says now. “I had everything to say and was just passionate. I never expected to get so many bad reactions.” However, the actress still stands behind her statements. “I thought I had a right to speak.”
In her own words, it was never her intention to cause unrest. “That was never my goal, but I had some things to say and I didn’t expect to get such a strong reaction. I was in my late twenties. It took almost ten years before I could turn off all the noise again and say, ‘But who are you? Are you a bad person? Are you ungrateful? Are you unprofessional? Are you difficult?’” Eventually Heigl couldn’t remember himself. “I was so confused. Eventually I began to think that maybe they were right. I slowly started to believe what they wrote about me and felt so ashamed for a long time. But in the end I was like, ‘Wait. Who am I actually listening to? I know who I am.”
Not wrong
Ellen Pompeo certainly does not blame her former ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ colleague. “You were just there early,” the actress now says in their interview with ‘Variety’. “People are afraid of confident women. That is why they take away all our rights.” She continues: “They don’t want us to take matters into our own hands. They don’t want us to find our voice. Because deep down they know all too well that we are much better at it than they are.”
It has long been known that Heigl does not like to mince words. In January 2021, the actress already opened her booklet about ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ in ‘The Washington Post’. “I may have said some things that were not so nice, but soon they called me ungrateful, difficult and unprofessional. What is your definition of difficult? Someone with an opinion you disagree with? Now that I’m 42, this pisses me off so much.”
Those first years were horrible. It was a toxic environment, full of inappropriate behavior
Ellen Pompeo
The actress, who was nominated for an Emmy for her role in ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, also asked to withdraw her nomination. “The material I received this season is not worthy of a nomination. I want the organization to maintain its integrity and that is why I have decided to withdraw,” it said in a statement at the time. And also for the producers of Katherine was anything but tender. For example, she blames the production team for letting her show up for seventeen hours a day, while they supposedly adjusted to her schedule. “They just told me to shut up,” she told The Washington Post.
Toxic environment
Ellen Pompeo also knows all too well that the atmosphere was not always great on the set. In 2013, the actress first spoke out about all the drama on the set. “Hurt feelings, combined with instant success and big paychecks, caused some people to lose control of themselves,” he said in an interview at the time. “It got more and more crazy.” She felt the tension herself. “Those first years were horrible. It was a toxic environment, full of inappropriate behavior,” she frankly admitted. “I considered resigning, but once I had kids, it wasn’t just about me. I had to support my family.”
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