‘I’m so grateful there wasn’t social media then’: Ellen Pompeo on the first season of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

Katherine Heigl and Ellen Pompeo have gifted us the Grey’s Anatomy reunion of our dreams in Variety‘s latest “Actors on Actors” interview segment. The powerhouse stars of the long-running medical drama brought two of television’s most beloved characters to the small screen, and as we grew more familiar with their characters, they carved out a place in our hearts.

Both of their starring runs on the series have ended, with Heigl wrapping Izzie’s full-time storyline back in 2010 and Pompeo concluding Meredith’s starring role earlier this year. The actresses have gone on to do beautiful things in their respective careers, and as they look back at the beginning stages of Grey’s, they describe something that makes you feel the excitement and nervousness right along with them.

Heigl asked Pompeo when she felt like Grey’s was going to be a hit, and as she explained the moment when — the morning after the first episode aired and they saw the proof in the pudding, so to speak, she also said that she’s so grateful that social media didn’t exist during that space of her life.

Pompeo: “It was going to air on Sunday night after Desperate Housewives. On Monday morning, we had to film the last day of that first season. We came into work the next day, and everybody was freaking out. The ratings were huge. I don’t even know if people can count that high anymore. Then we went on hiatus, and the show was airing. I’m so grateful there was no social media then. We would’ve lost our minds even more than we already lost our minds.”
Heigl: “It didn’t take a lot. I just remember that I was nervous that they were not going to air it. There was a moment when it was unclear. They didn’t like it.”

Heigl feared that the pilot wouldn’t air until the moment it went live on television, and the way she speaks about it lends to the idea that it was a tumultuous time for everyone involved. There were the powers that be didn’t like what they’d created, and they felt that energy from them.

If those thoughts were running wild in their heads, imagine the impact of social media being a thing at that time. They would have been scouring message boards and social media profiles looking for what people were saying; even if they didn’t want to read it, it would have been unavoidable.

There was a lot of uncertainty around the series at the beginning, and while the idea of the pilot never even airing seems silly now, it was a grim prospect hanging over their heads. Pompeo and Heigl continued by joking about the “executive” who almost “slept” on Shonda Rhimes and how silly it must have felt to be “that guy.”

Pompeo: “We’ll be very nice and not name the executive who almost took a nap on Shonda Rhimes. I’m not saying it, but he almost slept on Shonda Rhimes — almost didn’t air that pilot! You can do your research and find out who it was. Imagine being that guy.”
Heigl: “I think he still is that guy. I think he owns a vineyard now in Napa.”

A pop culture staple, Grey’s Anatomy changed the medical drama realm for good, setting a standard on character arcs and development, romance and sex appeal, and the idea that those we love are never truly gone, that death and time can’t separate hearts so profoundly intertwined. Grey’s is still a trending topic on social media, and that idea in itself is something striking; these platforms didn’t even exist in the early days of the show, and the ones that did weren’t nearly as popular as they are today; but this series is still so important to viewers and audiences everywhere.

So if you ever see the phrase “Pick Me. Choose Me. Love Me.” trending or wonder why people share videos of a proposal on a hill with a house outlined with candles, just know that once you tiptoe into Grey’s Anatomy territory, you quickly become emotionally invested, and you might just find yourself making your Twitter profile pic a snap of you in a sailboat scrub cap. If you know, you know.