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Meredith Grey might’ve clocked out of Grey Sloane Memorial, but she hopes to visit Seattle again soon.
First, Pompeo will film a Hulu series titledThe Orphan.“That’s going to be a very interesting role to play,” she said to Heigl, 44. “I haven’t played another character in 18 years. That’s crazy — crazy town, crazy town.”
But Pompeo feels ready for her next adventure after being onGrey’sfor “so long.”
“I’m happy to let that go,” Pompeo said. “We’re past that point. I think it’s OK for Meredith to stop making bad decisions.”
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Themother of threecited her character’s relationship with Nick Marsh (Scott Speedman) as one of her “frustrations” with the show. “I felt so happy to be able to step away, and I felt like I accomplished something incredible,” Pompeo said. “Everywhere, as I’m sure everywhere you go, people just run up to me and say, ‘I love you!’ It’s weird and strange, but it’s just love coming at me.”
Heigl, who played Dr. Izzie Stevens for the show’s first six seasons, left the series in 2010 but said she still gets recognized as the character — sort of.
“I was in the liquor store — I needed some wine. And this man comes up to me and goes, ‘Excuse me. I’m so sorry, but my daughter, she’s freaking out over here. Would you mind talking to her for a minute?'” Heigl told Pompeo. “And I was like, ‘Sure. Come on over, honey.'”
The girl asked Heigl if she knew ofGrey’s Anatomy, and after Heigl assured she did, “She goes, ‘Do you know Izzie Stevens?’ And I go, ‘Yes, I do,'” Heigl continued. “She goes, ‘Are you her mother?’ Thankfully, that hasn’t happened again.”
Most recently, Heigl played Tully Hart in the Netflix seriesFirefly Lane,whichended in Aprilafter two seasons. When reflecting on whether she would ever make a return toGrey’s Anatomy, sheshared withEntertainment Tonightin 2019 that the decision would be a “tough one” to make.
“I haven’t [thought about Izzie] in years. I don’t know. I don’t know if I would or if I wouldn’t," she said.
“I almost feel like that would almost be distracting again to, sort of, what they’ve done with that show in the seven years since I left … and what that’s become and what it is to the fans now,” she continued. “It must feel like it would just be kind of like, ‘Yeah, we already let that go … why are you here?'”
Heigl and Pompeo recalled toVarietythat audiences almost didn’t even seeGrey’s Anatomyat all. “I just remember that I was nervous that they were not going to air it,” Heigl said. “There was a moment when it was unclear. They didn’t like it.”
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Pompeo admitted she miscalculated, too, when it came to the “Pick me. Choose me. Love me.” speech Meredith gave to Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) in season 2.
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Grey’s Anatomycan be streamed on Hulu and Netflix.
source: people.com