Actress married interracially but rejects an on-screen interracial romance

Posted by Ria, 10 Oct

My assumption is: When an actor/actress is in an interracial relationship in real life, they’d jump at the chance to have an on-screen interracial romance. Well, not Grey’s anatomy lead actress Ellen Pompeo.

Much as she is married to an African American Chris Ivery, Pompeo (who played Meredith Grey) rejected an on-screen interracial relationship. Initially, and as the executive producer Shonda Rhimes had intended it, African American actor Isaiah Washington was to play Pompeo’s on-screen love interest in the medical drama but she made it clear that she didn’t want him because an interracial love story-line was "too close to home" for her; it was her real life. Instead she opted for a white actor, Patrick Dempsey, who played Derek Shepherd, to be her on-screen love.

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In a recent interview with the New York Post, Pompeo revealed: "You know they wanted Isaiah Washington to be my boyfriend. Shonda really wanted to put a black man in the mix. I didn’t think they were really going to put an interracial couple on the show and I didn’t want him. It was too close to home. I said I wanted that Dempsey kid."

Funny she took that stand coz recently, the actress blasted this past year’s Emmy Awards, saying they lacked diversity. "I didn't see any diversity in the Emmys at all. The Emmys felt so dated to me," she told the Associated Press. "I'm extremely proud of our very, very diverse cast which represents the world that I walk around in every day."

Washington however still ended up in an on-screen interracial relationship with the Asian-Canadian actress Sandra Oh who played Dr. Cristina Yang.

What do you think of Pompeo’s stand about rejecting the on-screen romance and then claiming there is no diversity in the Emmy’s?

2 responses to "Actress married interracially but rejects an on-screen interracial romance"

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  1.   Authorgirl says:
    Posted: 01 May 14

    I understand her point, why put your life on the fire line so Early in your career ? They would have made Ellen and Meridith one and the same in the TMZverse

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  2. Posted: 15 Oct 13

    Two words: Robert Dinero! How many awards has he gotten for movies with a Black female love interest?

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