Ellen Pompeo Revealed That She And T.R. Knight Were “In Tears” Throughout Their Entire “Grey’s Anatomy” Sex Scene Because It Was So “Uncomfortable And Awkward”

Ellen Pompeo is looking back on one of her most “uncomfortable” moments on the Grey’s Anatomy set.

Ellen Pompeo on a red carpet
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Ellen, now 55, has played the leading character Meredith Grey on the hit ABC series since 2005. In 2023, she took a step back from the show and now only appears in a few episodes.

Back in Season 2, Ellen had to film a love scene with her costar T.R. Knight, who played George O’Malley. During the sex, Meredith memorably breaks down into tears, eventually prompting George to storm out.

Ellen Pompeo lying down in bed, gazing upward, with tears on her face
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Reflecting on shooting this scene now, Ellen has revealed that things were incredibly “uncomfortable and awkward” for both her and T.R.

T.R. Knight in a scene from "Grey's Anatomy," leaning over Ellen Pompeo's Meredith Grey in bed, in a dimly lit room
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“T.R. and I are such good friends, and we had to do a love scene,” she said during a new appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast. “We were both crying. We cried.”

Ellen Pompeo speaking on a podcast episode
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“The scene was so uncomfortable and awkward, and he didn’t wanna do it, I didn’t wanna do it,” Ellen shared before revealing that much to her dismay, she and T.R. were ordered to shoot the scene a second time because the first take wasn’t quite right.

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“When we filmed it, it was so bad. And then the network said there was too much thrusting. In your worst nightmare, you have to do it one time — we had to reshoot that shit,” she said.

Ellen Pompeo lying in bed, visibly upset, clutching the blanket with her eyes closed
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“By the way, I’ve never watched that scene. I don’t know how it was shot or covered or how it was edited, but I’m full on in tears the whole entire scene, and those are real tears,” she revealed.

Ellen Pompeo in a scene from "Grey's Anatomy"
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“There was a lot of stuff that I didn’t wanna do at the time,” she added. “I didn’t wanna say, ‘Pick me, choose me, love me’ … You have to just suck it up and do it.”

You can find Ellen’s full Call Her Daddy episode here.

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