Anne Marie Fox. / Disney via Getty Ellen Pompeoknows some people see her only as Dr. Meredith Grey, theGrey's Anatomycharacter she's played since 2005, but she ponders what being recognized for other work would mean to her. "OnGrey's, you really only get an opportunity to be nominated for things in your first few seasons, and so that time had clearly passed," Pompeo toldThe Hollywood Reporterin an interview published Wednesday. "I didn't crave that kind of recognition. I craved the sort of financial and job security situation more that I did critical accolades — that's why I stayed on the show." Craig Sjodin/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Since 2022, Pompeo has not been the focus of the series. Her character continues to narrate, but Dr. Grey has only factored into the action for a handful of episodes over the past three seasons. Pompeo continues to be an executive producer on theShonda Rhimeshit, however. "Had I been [chasing] critical acclaim, I wouldn't have stayed onGrey'sfor so long," Pompeo said. "So it wasn't always the most important thing to me but now that I'm doing something new, it would definitely, probably help me in this next chapter of my story — moving on fromGrey's, doing other roles." Still, in April, the recipient of awards including a 2007 Golden Globes nomination (for TV actress in a drama forGrey's) said she has no plans to leave completely. "That would make no sense, emotionally or financially,"toldEl País. "The show was streamed more than a billion times in 2024. More than a billion times." Pompeo put a lot into the ABC series, and she understandablywants to share in the profits. Sign up forEntertainment Weekly's free daily newsletterto get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. "The companies that own the show and stream the show make a lot of money from our images and our voices and our faces. If I were to walk away completely, everybody gets to make money from my hard work for 20 years and I wouldn't make any money," Pompeo said. "To me, it doesn't make any sense that everybody [else] gets to profit off of my hard work. And emotionally, the show means a lot to people. I want to have an attitude of gratitude toward the show." Pompeo left the hospital long enough to executive produce and star inGood American Family, the Hulu limited series inspired by the story ofNatalia Grace, who was born in Ukraine with dwarfism, adopted by an American family, then accused by them of being an adult pretending to be a child. Pompeo played Kristine Barnett, who adopted Grace (Imogen Faith Reid) with her then-husband Michael Burnett (Mark Duplass). Pompeo is set to appear on the upcoming season of the medical drama and develop another idea for Hulu, which may include another season ofGood American Family, presented possibly as a second season sequel of the first or as new anthology entry in the series. Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly