Ellen Pompeo on ABC

Interviewee: Ellen Pompeo

Interviewer: ABC

Date: May 22, 2006

Virtually out of nowhere, Ellen Pompeo meteorically rose to stardom as surgical intern Meredith Grey, the titular lead of the phenomenal medical comedy/drama on ABC, Grey’s Anatomy. If only for her romantic odyssey here with Patrick Dempsey, who plays Dr. Derek “McDreamy,” the series endeared Pompeo to viewers across the globe. The series itself hit ratings gold, flooring CSI from the viewership pinnacle.

Ellen Pompeo’s time in the limelight is relatively short. In the run-up to the breakout TV series, Pompeo could be found in low-profile series and films, like Coming Soon, Undermind and Art Heist.

NBC was the first to tap her acting prowess, when the network put her in two guest spots on Law & Order. The appearances were four years apart, one in 1996 and 2000.

Ellen Pompeo was discovered in 1996 by a casting director who saw her bartending at the SoHo Bar & Grill. The very next day she appeared in her first commercial. Ads for Citibank and L’Oreal followed.

Portraying the paramour of Jake Gyllenhaal in Brad Silberling’s Moonlight Mile was Pompeo’s most acclaimed television appearance prior to Grey’s Anatomy. The drama debuted in 2002. In the same year, she played one in a string of Leonardo DiCaprio’s lovers in Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can. She was also cast as the love interests of Ben Affleck and Jim Carrey in Daredevil and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, respectively. However, in Daredevil, Pompeo’s scenes were mostly minimized while in Eternal Sunshine, her scenes were entirely cut out from the final version. Pompeo had more screen time in her next project, the $75 million-grossing Luke Wilson movie, Old School.

Prior to her role in Grey’s Anatomy, Pompeo spent a year doing low-profile stints in 2004.

For additional information about Ellen Pompeo, see the following:

Updates and information about Ellen Pompeo is featured on her online fan site.
TV.com features a professional bio about Grey’s Anatomy’s heroine, Ellen Pompeo.
People Magazine features numerous articles about actress, Ellen Pompeo.