Ellen Pompeo Confirms Our Suspicions About Grey's Anatomy's Future

Now about halfway through Season 18, "Grey's Anatomy" left many fans wondering if the drama would get renewed. As the longest-running medical show on primetime television (with no signs of stopping), the series recently introduced new characters, like E.R. Fightmaster's Dr. Kai Bartley, and welcomed back old favorites, like Kate Walsh's Dr. Addison Montgomery and Scott Speedman's Dr. Nick Marsh.

Ellen Pompeo, who's not one to hold back her feelings about the show, revealed that she's trying to persuade everyone to finally end the hit drama. "I've been trying to focus on convincing everybody that it should end," she told Insider. "​I feel like I'm the super naive one who keeps saying, 'But what's the story going to be, what story are we going to tell?' And everyone's like, 'Who cares, Ellen? It makes a gazillion dollars.'"

With the show's lead actor hoping to pull the plug soon, it's no wonder that Pompeo only agreed to a one-year deal for Season 18, per Deadline. And now that "Grey's Anatomy" has managed to get renewed for a brand-new season come this fall, fans have proof that what they've been speculating about the show's future has been right all along.

On January 10, it was revealed that "Grey's Anatomy" had been renewed for another season, but what's interesting is that there was no indication that Season 19 would be the last. ABC notes that the next installment "will explore the ever-expanding world of modern medicine through the eyes of beloved returning and new characters," per Deadline. The three remaining OG characters, played by Chandra Wilson, James Pickens Jr., and of course, Ellen Pompeo, are slated to return.

Just like in Season 18, Pompeo inked a one-year deal to continue playing Meredith Grey. She's also jumped from co-executive producer to executive producer, which may mean that she had been offered this promotion to stay on the show. In 2020, she had already admitted that financial stability was one of the reasons why she agreed to stay. "I made a decision to make money, and not chase creative acting roles," she said on the "Jemele Hill is Unbothered" podcast.

And while her heart's not in it anymore compared to the first few seasons, Pompeo said that "Grey's Anatomy" still deserved her undivided attention. "You have to be super engaged and be paying attention. It's like the world right now, what I say all the time, if you're not pissed, you're not paying attention," she said on her "Tell Me with Ellen Pompeo" podcast. "I feel like the only way for me to be there this long is to be fully activated on every level, be looking at everything."