Denzel Washington got into a heated argument with “Grey’s Anatomy” star Ellen Pompeo when he directed an episode back in 2016, the actress recently revealed. While speaking to the cohost of with former cast mate Patrick Dempsey on her “Tell Me with Ellen Pompeo” podcast, she shared details about her clash with the Training Day actor.
According to Pompeo, she was watching as a fellow actor filmed an emotional scene when she got caught up and spontaneously yelled out an improvised line. “I was like, ‘Look at me when you apologize. Look at me,’” she recalled saying. “And that wasn’t in the dialogue.”
The random act, she said, was met with disapproval from Washington, who she claims “went ham” on her soon after. “I’m the director. Don’t you tell him what to do,” the actor reportedly said, to which Pompeo replied, “Listen, motherfucker, this is my show. This is my set. Who are you telling? Like you barely know where the bathroom is.”
Pompeo said that she was so bothered by the exchange that she told Washington’s wife about it when she visited the set. “I was like, ‘Yeah, he yelled at me today. Yeah, he let me have it today, and I’m not okay with him, and I’m not looking at him, and I’m not talking to him,’” she said.
Though the “Grey’s Anatomy” actress and Washington “didn’t get through it without a fight,” Pompeo insisted that arguments are something actors often experience. “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,” she said. Pompeo also clarified that she and The Equalizer actor have since been cool, adding that she has the “utmost respect for him as an actor and director.”