Some tough news today for fans of Ellen Pompeo‘s Meredith Grey and her role as star of the long running hit show Grey’s Anatomy – she’ll only appear in 8 episodes in the upcoming season.
The beloved character will still narrate the show, although potentially not every episode, according to Deadline. She’ll still be an executive producer on the hit program, however, which is still the top rated scripted show on ABC. Pompeo has been on every season of the show for the past twenty years, but the last two seasons have seen less of her.
The news comes as Pompeo is all set to star in an upcoming series for Hulu about a Ukrainian named Natalia Grace and her adoptive parents. The parents say that Grace was a sociopathic adult pretending to be a kid. The decision to take on a smaller workload is apparently tied to her desire to branch out from the popular show, where she’s appeared in almost every episode so far (there are 400 episodes).
Whether or not she’ll leave the show for good remains to be seen. Showrunner Shonda Rhimes said in the past that she can’t envision the show moving forward without Pompeo. Pompeo has talked about the show ending in the past as well. When asked what she would do next, she provided an answer in line with her new project.
“I probably wouldn’t do movies per se, but I probably will do some streaming television,” Pompeo said. She also has a podcast called Tell Me with Ellen Pompeo.
“I’m just trying to play in some different areas and do a few new things but I’m sure I’ll act again,” she said.
Grey’s Anatomy was in potential jeopardy until Pompeo agreed to return for the latest season.
Of course, the news wasn’t met with open arms by diehard fans.
One Twitter user said this was a dark day for fans of the show.
“Bad day for those who’s comfort character is Meredith Grey,” the user said. Another user explained that the show wouldn’t even be worth watching without Meredith Grey.
“(Meredith) is the heart of greys anatomy she may not be the same meredith we once loved but there is no greys without HER its time to finish greys and give her a happy ending dont continue the show with meredith missing from half the eps whats the point?” the user said.
Season 19 of Grey’s Anatomy is set to premiere on Oct. 6 on ABC.
