Actress Ellen Pompeo has landed a new starring television role as a discharged emergency room nurse in the upcoming Hulu murder mystery series Not A Sound.
The 56-year-old Grey's Anatomy star will portray Amelia Winn, a former nurse who loses her hearing in a hit-and-run accident that sets off a murder investigation after she discovers a dead body. Adapted from Heather Gudenkauf's novel by David E. Kelley Productions, the project expands Pompeo's ongoing relationship with the streaming service.
Hulu has also renewed Good American Family, a true-crime drama starring Pompeo alongside Christina Hendricks, for a second season. The announcement comes as Deadline reports Pompeo is expected to continue her role on ABC's Grey's Anatomy for its 23rd season, which was officially renewed in March, despite speculation prompted by her absence from a recent cast photograph.
Pompeo, who has played Dr. Meredith Grey for 22 seasons, is expected to continue as the medical drama's narrator. However, longtime cast members Kevin McKidd, who plays Dr. Owen Hunt, and Kim Raver, who plays Dr. Theodora Grace "Teddy" Altman, will not return for the upcoming season.
The actress, who has three children, Stella, 16, Sienna, 11, and Eli, 9, with husband Chris Ivery, explained in 2022 that she preferred a reduced on-screen presence to focus on family life.
"I've been doing it for 20 years, so it was time to step away," Pompeo told El País in 2025. "I have three children and I love spending time with them and I love being involved in their lives."
She added: "I'm very lucky to be able to get to work sometimes and take time off. I have a nice balance in my life."
Casting Meredith Grey and Early Reluctance
When series creator Shonda Rhimes was first developing Grey's Anatomy for ABC, she envisioned a lead actress similar to the female lead in the 2002 film Moonlight Mile to play ambitious surgical intern Dr. Meredith Grey.
Rhimes recalled to Entertainment Weekly that a colleague suggested Pompeo, who had played Jake Gyllenhaal's love interest in Moonlight Mile and already held a talent holding deal with ABC network executives.
Pompeo initially felt anxious about medical television shows and had never watched an episode of the hit series ER. "I don't particularly like medical shows at all," Pompeo told Parade in 2013. "I never have. The show that was really big at the time for my generation, before I started Grey's, was ER. That was on forever, but I've never seen one episode!"
She also told The Hollywood Reporter that she did not want to be stuck on a medical show for five years. However, after meeting directly with Rhimes, Pompeo told Entertainment Weekly: "It was like, 'I want to do the show.'"
Alternative Titles and Casting Near Misses
The hit drama underwent several major changes before reaching television screens. ABC initially pursued actor Rob Lowe for the role of dreamy brain surgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd before Patrick Dempsey was eventually cast.
Executive producer Peter Horton recalled in Lynette Rice's 2021 book How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey's Anatomy that Lowe chose the CBS drama Dr. Vegas instead. Lowe later quipped, "My picker was awesome!" explaining that he had a better meeting with CBS and chose vibe over script.
Pompeo read with five potential actors for the role of Shepherd and told Rice it was obvious right off the bat that she and Dempsey had the best chemistry.
The network also struggled to settle on a title. Former ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson hated the name Grey's Anatomy, leading the network to briefly consider the title Complications after optioning Dr. Atul Gawande's book Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science.
Actress Kate Burton, who played Meredith's Alzheimer's-stricken mother Dr. Ellis Grey, remembered the working title being Surgeons, while writer Eric Buchman recalled a pitch for Miss Diagnosis that Rhimes outright hated. Chandra Wilson recalled joining an untitled Shonda Rhimes project that she assumed was never going to go anywhere. Buchman noted that no one remembered who ultimately decided to return to Grey's Anatomy.
Early production faced further hurdles when McPherson had a foulmouthed reaction to initial episodes. McPherson told Rice that while serious work was required, Rhimes heard the feedback and made the necessary revisions to move forward.
Behind the Scenes from Sets to Soundtrack
The series developed a distinctive culture and aesthetic during its early seasons in Los Angeles. While viewers associate the show with songs like "How to Save a Life" by The Fray, "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol, and "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service, the official theme song for the first two seasons was "Cosy in the Rocket" by electronic duo Psapp.
Psapp singer Galia Durant told The Guardian in 2007 that the band had not planned to release the track until a Grey's Anatomy music supervisor requested it. Bandmate Carim Clasmann told Shondaland in 2024 that the group did not initially realize the global impact of having their song featured on the show.
Production for the pilot took place at an abandoned veterans hospital in Northridge, California. Former showrunner Stacy McKee recalled to Rice that writers' offices were actual hospital rooms with windows nailed shut from its past use as a psychiatric ward.
While primary filming remains based in Los Angeles, exterior shots of the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital, inspired by Harborview Medical Center, feature Seattle's KOMO Plaza.
On set, costume designer Mimi Melgaard altered ill-fitting scrubs so that nothing distracted from the actors' eyes. Makeup director Norman Leavitt took an oath to do no harm, balancing Horton's desire for a rough and real aesthetic against network preferences for glamour.
Navigating High-Profile Cast Controversies
Throughout its broadcast history, Grey's Anatomy has generated significant news coverage surrounding behind-the-scenes controversies and cast exits.
In 2007, actor Isaiah Washington was fired after using a homophobic slur during an October 2006 argument on set with co-star T.R. Knight. Rhimes told The Hollywood Reporter in March 2025 that the incident burst the show's early bubble of joy and left cast members traumatized.
Washington issued public apologies, including after repeating the slur backstage at the 2007 Golden Globes. He later returned for a guest appearance as Dr. Preston Burke in 2014, writing on social platform X in April that co-star Sandra Oh refused to leave the show without his return ahead of her own exit as Dr. Cristina Yang.
Actress Katherine Heigl, who won a Best Supporting Actress Emmy in 2007 as Dr. Izzie Stevens, faced public criticism after calling her film Knocked Up a little sexist and declining to submit for Emmy consideration in 2008 because she felt her material did not warrant it.
Heigl told Howard Stern in 2016 that she apologized to Rhimes for the comment but struggled with the intense backlash until seeking therapy. In 2009, Heigl publicly criticized 17-hour workdays on set as cruel and mean during an appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman.
Pompeo defended Heigl on an April 2022 episode of her podcast Tell Me With Ellen Pompeo, stating that if Heigl made those comments today she would be considered a hero for being ballsy and honest about grueling production hours.
Following Heigl's exit in season six after surviving a brain tumor storyline, Rhimes considered killing Izzie off-camera but decided it was unfair to Alex Karev, played by Justin Chambers. Showrunner Krista Vernoff noted in 2020 that when Chambers left 10 seasons later, writers gave Alex and Izzie a happy ending as reunited parents of twins.
Departures, Pay Deals, and Professional Longevity
Tensions also emerged surrounding the departure of Patrick Dempsey at the end of season 11. Rhimes commented on The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore in 2015 that she had killed off a character because she disliked the actor, prompting speculation regarding Derek Shepherd's death.
Dempsey told Entertainment Weekly that Rhimes was an amazing, productive woman who knew how to handle the media. Former executive producer James D. Parriott noted in Rice's book that cast members experienced high tension with Dempsey, while former executive producer Jeannine Renshaw stated Pompeo felt frustrated when work hours were not shared fairly. Dempsey later returned for guest appearances during Meredith's coma dream sequences in season 17.
Dempsey's departure proved pivotal for Pompeo's contract negotiations. In 2017, Pompeo signed a deal worth more than $20 million per year, securing $575,000 per episode, a seven-figure signing bonus, and two backend equity points valued above $6 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Pompeo, who also established her production company Calamity Jane on Disney's Burbank lot, explained in 2018 that after asking for $5,000 more than Dempsey years earlier and being rejected, his exit allowed her to claim her fair share of a franchise that generated $3 billion for corporate owner Disney.
Pompeo, Chandra Wilson, and James Pickens Jr. remain the only original day-one cast members appearing in season 22. Wilson revealed on Good Morning America in October 2025 that she nearly left during season one due to her real-life pregnancy before Rhimes told her not to be ridiculous.
Pompeo told El País in April 2025 that leaving the series entirely made no financial or emotional sense after it was streamed over one billion times in 2024. Showrunner Meg Marinis told the Los Angeles Times in March 2025 that the writers continue to mirror real-life medical issues, including doctor isolation during the pandemic.
Despite playing a physician for over two decades, Pompeo told Parade that while her interest in medicine grew, doctors remain serious rock stars whose 12 years of schooling and complex knowledge she would never pretend to possess.
