Everyone Wants Ellen Pompeo Back on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ — Including Dr. Fox’s Actress

Grey’s Anatomy put Ellen Pompeo on the map. Now, the show is well into Season 21, and Pompeo is less of a fixture in the series. Meredith Grey (Pompeo) is still alive, unlike some of her beloved friends and husband, McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey), and she can come back to the show whenever she wants. After Season 19, the show gave Meredith an emotional goodbye, but she’s been back in both Season 20 and now Season 21. That isn’t enough for some of her co-stars, though, like Debbie Allen.

Allen was speaking at Pompeo’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony when she shared that Grey’s Anatomy wants her back. She joked that they allowed Pompeo to go and do Hulu’s Good American Family, but wanted her back as Meredith. “We let her out to go do that other show,” Allen joked. “Okay, Ms. Thing. Are you okay now? You did that. Now bring your butt back home.” Allen went on to share that the show wouldn’t be as successful and strong as it is if it weren’t for Pompeo. “Grey’s Anatomy is strong because of you,” she said. “We are strong because of you. I am standing here because of you. And certainly, Ms. Shonda Rhimes. We love you.”

Allen’s speech also included her praising Pompeo’s ability to lead the show, talking about how Pompeo takes on the responsibility of being number 1 on the call sheet. “Number one on the call sheet is a big responsibility, and you take that responsibility so seriously,” she said.

“I don’t know anybody else that comes to the set and makes sure everybody has what they need, and orders vegan food even though they want meat. Who we build extra time [for] because she always has ideas. She always has ideas about her character.”

Ellen Pompeo Took a Break to Join ‘Good American Family’

The Hulu series Good American Family is a fictionalized version of Natalia Grace‘s story. The young woman was adopted by the Barnett family, who then said she was significantly older than she is, put her in an apartment on her own when she was reportedly an underage child, and said she attempted to threaten the family with weapons. Pompeo is playing Grace’s real-life adoptive mother, Kristin Barnett, alongside Mark Duplass as Michael Barnett. The show, much like the docuseries The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, shows both sides of the story.