page_title: Ellen Pompeo
section_title: Grey's Anatomy and other works (2005–present)
hierarchical_section_title: Ellen Pompeo / Career / Grey's Anatomy and other works (2005–present)
caption_attribution_description: January 7, 2008 - 27 Dresses Premiere in Westwood
context_page_description: Ellen Kathleen Pompeo is an American actress, director, and producer. One of the world's highest paid actors since 2017, she has made multiple appearances on the Forbes’ year-end lists. Pompeo is also the recipient of such accolades as a Screen Award, a Special Achievement in Entertaining by the National Italian American Foundation, and a nomination for a Golden Globe Award.
  Born in Everett, Massachusetts, Pompeo moved to Miami and then to New York City, where she was discovered by a casting director who signed her for an advertisement campaign for L'Oreal. She made her screen debut with NBC's legal drama Law & Order and then guest-starred in other television shows, including the comedy Strangers with Candy, the medical drama Strong Medicine and Friends. Pompeo made her feature film debut in 1999 with the romantic comedy Coming Soon, and went on to play minor roles in films like In the Weeds and Mambo Café but found little success initially. A turning point came in her career in 2002, when she gained wide recognition for her starring role in Brad Silberling's drama Moonlight Mile.
context_section_description: Pompeo landed her first major role in 2005 on the ABC medical drama series Grey's Anatomy, created by Shonda Rhimes. She has played the title character and series' protagonist, Meredith Grey, a surgical intern at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital since the show's pilot episode. Grey's Anatomy was a breakout hit in 2005 and was well received by television critics. At the time of the show's inception, Pompeo received positive feedback for her performance, with Newsday's Diane Werts writing, "star Ellen Pompeo's newly minted Dr. Grey conveys such substance that you simply can't stop watching."
  Pompeo signed a new contract for Grey's Anatomy in 2011 that increased her salary to US$200,000 per episode; she was subsequently named the eighth highest paid TV actress in 2012, earning $9 million. The contract would have her involved with the show until its 12th season. Under her renewed deal of 2013, she earned $350,000 per episode, with additional payment from syndication. At this point, she was ranked fourth in the list of highest paid television actresses again in 2015, in the Forbes list, with the earnings of $11.5 million. Pompeo's contract with the company expired again at the end of the twelfth season along with the other original cast members, and she signed a new one with an increased paycheck. She held on the fourth spot in Forbes' list in 2016, bringing in $14 million, a 32% increase in the earnings from 2015.
  With the increasing popularity of the show, Pompeo garnered worldwide reputation among television viewers. Her performance has garnered her five People's Choice Award nominations, with three wins. At the 37th People's Choice Awards, she was nominated against Dempsey and Oh in the Favorite TV Doctor category, and the following year, she garnered a nomination in the Favorite TV Drama Actress category, an award that she has won thrice at the 39th, 41st and the 42nd People's Choice Awards. Pompeo has been nominated for several other awards for her performances in the show. She and the Grey's Anatomy cast won Best Ensemble in a Television Series at the 2006 Satellite Awards. During the following year's ceremony, she was named Best Actress in a Television Drama Series. She was among the Grey's Anatomy cast members awarded the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series accolade at the 13th Screen Actors Guild Awards, and received nominations in the same category in 2006 and 2008. Pompeo received a Best Performance by an Actress in a Drama Series nomination at the 64th Golden Globe Awards – the program won Best Drama Series at the same ceremony. In 2007, Pompeo and the female cast and crew of Grey's Anatomy received the Women in Film Lucy Award, which honors those "whose work in television has positively influenced attitudes toward women."
  In 2007, Pompeo was honored by the National Italian American Foundation for her achievement in entertainment at a black-tie gala in Washington, D.C. In the same year, show-business awards reporter Tom O'Neil commented that Pompeo was overdue for an Emmy Award nomination for her role in Grey's Anatomy. The view was echoed by later critics, including Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times who suggested that Pompeo, "who has worked very hard and against all narrative odds to make Meredith Grey an interesting character at last" should have received a nomination at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards. During the twelfth season of the show, Western Gazette's Alex Hawnkings gave Pompeo credit for carrying the show and re-iterated it was time for her to finally win an Emmy Award. Readers of O'Neil's awards website, The Envelope, included Pompeo in their 2009 nominations for Best Drama Actress in the site's Gold Derby TV Awards.
  On October 27, 2011, Deadline Hollywood reported that Pompeo had launched her own production company called Calamity Jane which sold its first project to ABC, an untitled show about female agents on the Secretary of State's security detail Pompeo appeared in the music video of Bad Blood, a song from the fifth studio album 1989 (2014) of her close friend Ameri
caption: Pompeo at the premiere of 27 Dresses in 2008
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