Making a career on the small screen is doable, but not after a performer has gone through the mud to even get an opportunity for something decent. Acting is a tough business, but shows like The Office and Friends have taken relative unknowns and have turned them into stars. Because of this, most performers out there will do just about anything to secure a spot on an upcoming pilot.
Ellen Pompeo is a massive star these days thanks to starring on Grey’s Anatomy but had things gone another way, she wouldn’t have even appeared on the show in the first place, forever altering the history of television.
Let’s look back and see why Ellen Pompeo nearly passed on Grey’s Anatomy.
She Wanted To Do A Show Called Secret Service
At this point in her career, it is almost impossible to imagine Ellen Pompeo playing another character other than Meredith Grey on the small screen, but there was once a point in time when she was doing anything and everything possible to land a role on a television series. During the time when the casting of Grey’s Anatomy was taking place, the performer wound up having another offer on the table.
Landing one role is hard enough, but sometimes, a performer will have to confront the difficult decision of choosing between roles. Choose the right role, and you’ll be working for a decade while rolling in millions. Choose the wrong role, and your show will be quickly off the air and you’ll be right back to square one. Such is the life for a performer even lucky enough to be in this predicament.
According to CheatSheet, there was once a point in time when the actress was attached to a show called Secret Service, which would have been drastically different from Grey’s Anatomy. When speaking with TV Guide, Pompeo would reveal, “I was offered the role of Meredith. I had done a movie for the studio called Moonlight Mile, so the studio was aware of me. Then… I met Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman … We sat down and talked about me possibly doing an arc on Alias.”
Pompeo would continue, saying, “That didn’t happen. Bob and Alex wrote a show called Secret Service. I really wanted to do that and the studio really wanted me to do Grey’s [Anatomy] instead. I wanted to do the Secret Service pilot that didn’t go, of course; me and my brilliant choices.”
Metting Shonda Rhimes Changed Everything
Now that she had confronted the decision of choosing between two roles and had picked the wrong one, it is interesting to think what would have happened had Secret Service actually taken off and who would have ultimately become Meredith Grey. Eventually, after things fell apart from the show she initially wanted to do, Pompeo would meet with Shonda Rhimes and figure out the right move in an instant.
She would tell TV Guide, “I read Grey's and I went and met Shonda and I decided to come on and do this. It was just an invitation and I happily accepted."
And just like that, television history was made. Of course, there is simply no way of knowing what a television show will become in the early stages, but clearly, people behind the scenes saw the potential that Grey’s Anatomy had. Even though ABC was swinging and missing on plenty of shows during that era, they were sitting on a gold mine with Grey’s.
Since the show debuted, it has been nothing short of one of the most remarkable achievements on the small screen. It has been on the air since 2005 and it has aired over 300 episodes, which is a feat accomplished by few programs in history. Pompeo has been laughing all the way to the bank ever since.
Her Grey’s Future
Despite Grey’s being the success that it is, the longer that it has gone on, the more people have wondered about how much longer the show has on the air.
While the show has done wonders for the performer, Pompeo has acknowledged that she won’t be staying on the show forever and will eventually call it a day sooner rather than later, which is totally understandable.
When speaking with Entertainment Tonight, the performer would touch on this subject, saying, “But certainly I think to dip out sooner rather than later, at this point, having done what we've done, to leave when the show is still on top, is definitely a goal. I'm not trying to stay on the show forever. No way. The truth is, if I get too aggravated and I'm no longer grateful there, I should not be there."
Secret Service was the show that almost robbed the world of the Grey’s they know and love, but thankfully, things worked out for the better in the end.