In 2016, Grey’s Anatomy aired an episode entitled “The Sound of Silence.” While the title was fitting for the episode, it appears that the title also applied to what was happening on the set.

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It turns out that Denzel Washington, directed the episode and and Ellen Pompeo were not seeing eye-to-eye at the time of filming.

Pompeo opined about Washington’s presence on her latest episode of her podcast, Tell Me with Ellen Pompeo. After singing Washington praises, Pompeo recalled the 2016 episode. She and co-star Patrick Dempsey once improvised an argument during a scene.

As reported by Entertainment Weekly, she said, “I was like, ‘Look at me when you apologize. Look at me [to Dempsey]. 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.'”

I was like, ‘Listen, motherf***er, this is my show,'” Pompeo continued. “This is my set. Who are you telling?”

Pompeo continued to emphasize that she has the “utmost respect for him as an actor and director.” She clarified that after the incident, there wasn’t any more ruffling of the feathers. The episode was recorded without any other conflict.

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

Washington can be seen soon in theaters in The Tragedy of Macbeth from A24 and Apple TV+.

When Pompeo

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