“I Can’t Beg a Man on TV.” Ellen Pompeo Was So Embarrassed Filming This Iconic Scene from Grey's Anatomy That She Actually Cried During It
Ellen Pompeo confessed that the filming of one scene from the early days of Grey's Anatomy brought her to tears because she had a problem with a line spoken by her character.
Undeniably, the star of Grey's Anatomy is Ellen Pompeo, who played Dr. Meredith Grey in the medical TV series for more than a dozen years. The actress went through a lot with the TV show, as did the character she played, who did not have an easy time during those dozen years. Her and her own interests tried to be defended by Pompeo, however, one of her defeats resulted in one of the most iconic scenes from the TV series.
The romance between Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd, played by Patrick Dempsey, was one of those that generated the most excitement among viewers. And the pivotal moment between the couple came in the second season of the medical hit, when Meredith professes her love for Derek in a monologue that included the words: “Pick me. Choose me. Love me.”
During Variety's Actors on Actors, in which Pompeo participated with Katherine Heigl, Meredith Grey actress confessed that she really didn't want to say the line because she couldn't imagine having to beg a man on TV to love her. And she was surprised that the line she hated had become so popular.
Listen, I don’t know if you remember that I fought that speech so hard. That’s another really interesting thing about life — some things that I was so against, and I was like, “I can’t beg a man on TV! This is so embarrassing.” And then it turns out to be one of the most famous scenes ever. […] In the scene, I’m crying, but I’m really crying because I have to beg a man on television.
The actress felt so badly about her spoken line that the tears we see on screen are real. But, as you can see, even though Pompeo didn't like her character's lines, the viewers who made this scene so popular had a different feeling about it. Nowadays, even if someone hasn't seen Grey's Anatomy, it's quite possible that he or she has come across the line spoken by Meredith to Derek online.
