The Dangerous Scene Ellen Pompeo Was Forced To Film On Grey's Anatomy
Any television show that runs as long as ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" has is going to generate a lot of iconic moments that fans recall years after they aired. Not only do the viewers hold on to those big scenes, but the cast members do too. That has clearly been the case for Ellen Pompeo, who has played Dr. Meredith Grey since the series began. She has shared interesting tidbits over the years about the scenes that stuck with her, and one of them ended up being a stunt she herself had to film that was quite dangerous.
"Grey's Anatomy" has a long history of delivering jaw-dropping moments and heartbreaking twists. Plenty of central characters have been written out over the years, sometimes in ways that blindsided viewers. Patrick Dempsey's exit with Derek Shepherd's death in Season 11 was a tearjerker, as were the Season 8 deaths of Lexi Grey and Mark Sloan. Of course, nobody can forget George O'Malley's Season 5 departure when a "John Doe" came into the hospital in dire condition after being hit by a bus. Meredith was central to many of these big "Grey's Anatomy" storyline developments, and Pompeo's character has had more than a few close calls herself. One of Meredith's close calls came in a scene where Pompeo herself was pushed to take risks to film the key moment and she has been outspoken about her unhappiness about how it all went down.
A stunt gone wrong
During Season 2 of "Grey's Anatomy," Kyle Chandler guest-starred alongside Ellen Pompeo (Meredith Grey) on Episode 17 titled "As We Know It" (per TV Fanatic). Chandler played Dylan, a bomb technician who talked Meredith through extracting a bomb from a patient's body. As he transported it away, Meredith walked to the doorway to watch. The bomb exploded, and Meredith was thrown by the blast as Dylan died. That "Grey's Anatomy" episode was an important one, as it got the coveted post-Super Bowl time slot. Thorough preparations were made, but things took a problematic turn during filming.
"It was very late at night when we filmed it. I had been working something like 17 hours," Pompeo recalled for Entertainment Weekly. "I was exhausted, so I was excited that I didn't have to do the stunt [involving the blast]." A stunt double filmed the first take, but she hit her head on the floor and had to stop filming. Horton then turned to Pompeo to have her film a second take. "We had a knock-down, drag-out fight because he insisted I do the stunt," Pompeo revealed. "I said, 'A f***ing professional stuntwoman just gave herself a concussion doing it. I've been working 18 hours. I can barely see straight. Now you want me to try it?'" Pompeo and Horton screamed at one another, but Pompeo ultimately filmed the stunt. Part of her take was used, although the moment the stunt double hit her head was kept too.
Ellen Pompeo has continued to assert herself
"Grey's Anatomy" director Peter Horton insisted to Entertainment Weekly, "We never would have put her in jeopardy" in filming that scene. "We pulled her much slower than we pulled the stunt double," he explained of how the bomb blast was filmed. He admitted he saw that scene as a "highlight" of more than a decade of "Grey's Anatomy" episodes, and felt "It was a special moment when it all came together in just the right way."
In the years since then, Pompeo's determination to stand up for herself has grown exponentially. She may not have won that particular battle in Season 2, but she opened up to The Hollywood Reporter about how empowered she'd become since then. Pompeo explained that as show creator Shonda Rhimes moved to Netflix, Pompeo approached her and pushed "to be incentivized" to stick with "Grey's Anatomy." Pompeo told Rhimes, "I need to feel empowered and to feel ownership of this show." At that point, acting felt boring to Pompeo and she wanted to produce and be more creative. Pompeo got what she needed in order to stick around, and her character has continued to find herself in dire situations again and again. Will Pompeo find herself filming any further dangerous stunts before "Grey's Anatomy" ends its run? Fans may not see anything quite like that happen again, but viewers always know to be prepared for surprises.