Entertainment TV Ellen Pompeo Has 'No Desire' to Continue Acting After 'Grey's Anatomy' : 'It's for the Youth' "I'm not super excited about continuing my acting career," Ellen Pompeo recently said of what's next for her after the eventual conclusion of Grey's Anatomy By Glenn Garner Glenn Garner Instagram Twitter Glenn Garner is a Writer/Reporter who works heavily with PEOPLE's Movies and TV verticals. Since graduating from Northern Arizona University with a dual major in journalism and photography, he got his professional start at OUT Magazine, The Advocate and Teen Vogue, and he's since consistently kept his finger on the pulse of the LGBTQ community. His first book The Guncle Guide was released in 2020 and was featured on Katie Couric's list of 100 recommended books of the year. People Editorial Guidelines Published on August 2, 2021 07:26 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey on Grey's Anatomy. Photo: Kelsey McNeal/ABC Dr. Meredith Grey might just be Ellen Pompeo's last acting role! The Golden Globe nominee, 51, recently admitted that she'd be fine hanging up her acting hat when Grey's Anatomy takes its final bow. "I'm not saying I'll never act again, I very well may, but I'm not super excited about continuing my acting career," she said last week on the Ladies First with Laura Brown podcast. "The acting, even though I haven't done a million different roles, I feel like I've done it," Pompeo added. "Sitting around in trailers, traveling around, shooting this in Atlanta, shooting that in Vancouver. I have no desire to go sit in trailers at 11 o'clock at night and wait to shoot scenes and have ADs knock on my door and tell me when I can eat lunch. You know, it's for the young at heart. It's for the youth!" Ellen Pompeo Says Grey's Anatomy Sex Scenes Were Initially 'Really Hard' for Her Husband: 'Poor Guy' Pompeo's starred as the titular doctor in Grey's Anatomy for the entirety of its 17-season run, but has expressed uncertainty about her future with the show in recent years. "This year could be it," she told Variety in October, ahead of the season 17 finale. The show was renewed for season 18 in May. The actress previously told Entertainment Weekly in 2018 that she was "looking for a change" in her career. "I'm clearly not prepared right now to make any formal announcement about what my future is on the show, but I am really feeling like we have told the majority of the stories that we can tell," she said at the time. FRANK OCKENFELS/ABC After negotiating a $20 million salary in 2018, Pompeo later said she "made a decision to make money" by sticking with the show instead of pursuing other opportunities. "For me, personally, a healthy home life was more important than career," she said last August. "I didn't grow up with a particularly happy childhood," Pompeo added. "So the idea that I have this great husband and these three beautiful children [and] a happy home life was really something I needed to complete, to close the hole in my heart." The Old School actress shares daughters Stella Luna, 11½, Sienna May, 6½, and son Eli Christopher, 4½, with music producer husband Chris Ivery, 54. RELATED VIDEO: Ellen Pompeo Scores a $20 Million Salary Win While the Pay Gap Continues in Hollywood As for what's next for Pompeo, she's taken an interest in business, which she's "excited" to pursue further. "I'm more entrepreneurial at this stage," she said on Ladies First. "I'm excited about investing in businesses, and starting business. That's an area of growth that I'm excited about, using my brain in a different way." Pompeo also teased an upcoming podcast she's hosting, entitled Tell Me. "[I thought], 'Let me go out there and do something I've never done before and try something completely different for absolutely no other reason than to try something different because I haven't for so long,'" she said. "If it fails, it fails, but at least I'm trying something new."