Ellen Pompeo fought against "most famous" Grey's Anatomy scene

 Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo has revealed that she didn't want to deliver one particular line of dialogue, which became part of a very famous scene.

The moment in question is when Pompeo's character Meredith Grey begs Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) to be with her over his wife in season two, and she shouts: "Pick me!" Speaking as part of a Variety's Actors on Actors chat with fellow Grey's alumni Katherine Heigl, the latter asked Pompeo if there is a line from the show that fans constantly quote to her. "So, OK, this is a real thing. My daughter and her friends, they sit around and they’re like, 'Oh, she’s a ‘pick me girl,'" she explained.

When Heigl expressed shock over what the line now means, her co-star continued: "Yes. I’m like, 'What’s a pick me girl?' They were like, 'You know, girls who are like, ‘Pick me, choose me!’'. And I’m like, 'Hello?! Do you know who invented the ‘pick me girl’?'"Pompeo went on to reveal how she pushed back against that line of dialogue and added: "I don’t know if you remember that I fought that speech so hard.

"That’s another really interesting thing about life – some things that I was so against, and I was like, 'I can’t beg a man on TV! This is so embarrassing.' And then it turns out to be one of the most famous scenes ever." Heigl suggested it was "a beautiful scene", though Pompeo revealed that there was more than one reason for her on-screen tears."In the scene, I’m crying, but I’m really crying because I have to beg a man on television," she added.

Grey's Anatomy season 19 airs on Thursdays on ABC in the US. The show streams on Disney+ in the UK, where new episodes premiere on Wednesdays.