Ugly Fight on the Set of Grey's Anatomy

Actress Ellen Pompeo revealed a nasty fight she had with star Denzel Washington on the set of the series “Grey's Anatomy”, in the latest episode of his podcast “Tell Me”. The actress, who has played the series' protagonist, Dr. Meredith Grey, for 18 seasons, spoke for the first time about the moments of great tension alongside the two-time Oscar winner on set in a conversation with her former castmate, actor Patrick Dempsey.

^{Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey in “Grey's Anatomy”. (Photo: Reproduction/Instagram)}

It was Patrick Dempsey himself who mentioned Denzel Washington when asked what it was like to have him directing. “The Sound of Silence”the ninth episode of the 12th season of the series, in which Ellen Pompeo's character is attacked by a patient suffering from epilepsy and has her jaw broken by him. Ellen Pompeo recalled that actress Debbie Allen, who plays the character Catherine Avery, invited Denzel Washington as a “surprise” for Ellen Pompeo, in order to keep her interested in the series after working on it for so many years.

“He came probably three weeks early so he could catch up, because Denzel doesn't watch a lot of TV, he's probably never seen the show.”explained Ellen Pompeo. “He did the show because his wife is a huge fan. His wife is actually the one who said to him, 'That show is amazing, you should go. ' I think he saw it as good exercise to come in and direct something fast.”said the actress.

^{Actor Denzel Washington with his wife, Pauletta Washington, who is a fan of the series “Grey's Anatomy”. (Photo: Reproduction/GettyImages)}

Even if the “Denzel's presence was amazing” and he was a “superstar for a reason”according to Ellen Pompeo, she could not justify her lack of experience with television. “Denzel is a movie star, right? He doesn't know s–t about directing TV.”the actress raged. She then went on to explain how the two began to clash over a particular scene. In this scene, her character Meredith is approached by the man who broke her jaw to apologize. Ellen Pompeo said she believed Meredith was “not having it” at the time, but “reluctantly” agreed to hear the man out.

“I didn’t really want to talk to this actor or see him before I did this scene, so I didn’t have much interaction with him.”explained the actress. “And then he apologized to me, but he was doing it very softly. He made the choice to speak very softly. And I was upset that I had to sit there and listen to this apology. And he wasn't looking me in the eye. Again, we love actors who make choices. And I yelled at him, I said, 'Look at me! When you apologize, look at me!' And that wasn't in the dialogue.”recalled Ellen Pompeo.

“Denzel beat me up”she said. “He was like, ‘I’m the director! Don’t tell him what to do!’ And I was like, ‘Listen, motherf—er, this is my show! This is my set! Who are you telling — you barely know where the bathroom is!’”reproduced the fight on his podcast. “I have the utmost respect for him as an actor, as a director, as everything, but like, hey, we went there one day. And then his wife came to visit me, and I wasn't talking to him. I was mad at him. And I told his wife, I was like, 'Yeah, he yelled at me today. He gave me a hard time today, and I'm not okay with him, and I'm not looking at him, and I'm not talking to him. '”revealed the protagonist of “Grey's Anatomy”.

Ellen Pompeo said the pair didn't get through the episode “without a struggle” – but she put that down to the actors being “passionate and fiery”. “It was an amazing experience, it really was”she said. “That's what it takes to get the good result. We were fine after that. He's just one of the best to ever do it.”concluded the actress.

Featured Photo: The actress who plays the protagonist of “Grey's Anatomy”Ellen Pompeo and Denzel Washington. Reproduction/Rich Fury/Michael Tran/Getty