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‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Ellen Pompeo Will Be Back For Season 13: Actress Signs A New Deal

By Alexandria Ingham
Published on: 21:13 PST, Jun 1, 2016

With Grey’s Anatomy Season 13 confirmed, there have been many questions over who will come back and who will become series regulars. Ellen Pompeo has confirmed a new deal with the Shondaland series, and Pompeo will reprise her role as Meredith Grey on the medical drama.

According to The Daily Mail, Pompeo will earn $300,000 per episode during Grey’s Anatomy Season 13. She is already the fourth highest-paid actress on TV, and this will keep her up there for the next season. The actress has already said that she will likely quit acting once Grey’s has finished, but Pompeo has said that she would like to go into directing or producing instead. Previously, she had talked about how she didn’t want to work for other people anymore, which is what being an actor is all about.

Pompeo shot to fame because of her role on the medical drama series. She is the main and named character on the show, and the initial focus was on her and her relationships with those in the hospital that she was an intern in. While working as an intern, she also had to care for her mother who was suffering from dementia and deal with sleeping with one of the attending doctors at the hospital, Derek Shepherd.

Over the years, the series has focused on more relationships within the hospital, but Meredith was still one of the focuses. Her relationship with Derek had its ups and downs, but they eventually married and had children of their own.

Grey’s Anatomy Season 11 delivered a shocker of an episode by killing off Derek. This was despite Patrick Dempsey signing on for Seasons 11 and 12 at the start of that year. The shock had fans outraged, and many threatened to stop watching. They believed Derek and Meredith deserved better.

However, the storyline did help to push the show forward a notch. It became about how Meredith handled her grief and raised three children on her own in the house that Derek built them.

While Grey’s Anatomy fans know that Pompeo has signed on for at least one more year, they have to deal with the knowledge that Callie Torres will not be back. Sara Ramirez announced after the Season 12 finale on May 19 that she would be walking away from the show for good after 10 years playing her character.

There are still questions over some of the other main characters and whether the actors will renew their contracts. Justin Chambers, Kevin McKidd, James Pickens Jr., and Chandra Wilson’s contracts have all expired with the end of Grey’s Season 12. Chambers and Kidd are expected to remain on, and their deals are close to being finalized. Pickens Jr. and Wilson are not confirmed either way as of yet.

Some characters will be promoted to series regulars for Season 13. Jason George, who plays Ben, has confirmed that he will stick around for Season 13, and his character will be made a series regular rather than a recurring character.

Grey’s Anatomy Season 13 hasn’t begun filming yet. That cannot happen until all contracts are in place, which should be very soon. The filming will likely start in a couple of months for the show to come back at the end of September or the start of October 2016 on ABC. The only Shondaland drama confirmed for a later start is Scandal, due to Kerry Washington’s real pregnancy.

Pompeo is definitely back for Grey’s Anatomy Season 13. Will that mean her character is safe for the full season? Nothing is certain this year.

[Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images]

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