Ellen Pompeo recalls row with Denzel Washington on Grey’s Anatomy set

By Keiran Southern, PA Los Angeles Correspondent

Ellen Pompeo has revealed she had a furious row with Denzel Washington when the Hollywood star directed an episode of Grey’s Anatomy.

Pompeo, 51, is one of the best paid actresses on TV thanks to the medical drama, which she has starred in since 2005 as Dr Meredith Gray.

Washington, a two-time Oscar winner, was brought in to direct an episode in 2016 but all was not well between the two Hollywood heavyweights.

Speaking on her podcast Tell Me With Ellen Pompeo, the actress said Washington took exception to her improvising during an emotional scene.

The season 12 episode was titled The Sound Of Silence and featured Meredith being brutally attacked by a patient.

“I was like, ‘Look at me when you apologise, look at me,'” Pompeo recalled yelling at the actor opposite her during the scene. “And that wasn’t in the dialogue. And Denzel went ham on my ass. He was like, ‘I’m the director. Don’t you tell him what to do.'”

Pompeo however fought back.

She said: “I was like, ‘Listen, motherf*****, this is my show. This is my set. Who are you telling?”

Pompeo said she has the “utmost respect for him as an actor and director” and said she never again clashed with Washington, 66.

“So, we didn’t get through it without a fight, but that’s actors for you,” she added.

“Passionate and fiery and that’s where you get the magic, and that’s where you get the good stuff. So, it was an amazing experience, it really was.”