Ellen Pompeo recalls 'Grey's' argument with Denzel Washington on 'Tell Me' podcast

Any other time, the headline here would be that Ellen Pompeo reunited with Patrick Dempsey for the second episode of her new Tell Me podcast.

But Pompeo gave us no other choice the moment she mention Denzel Washington.

Dempsey prompted it by asking Pompeo about how Washington was as a director. The two-time Oscar winner directed the 2016 Grey's Anatomy episode "The Sound of Silence" — the ninth episode of the 12th season, and the 13th episode after Dempsey's iconic Dr. Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd was killed off.

Pompeo began by complimenting Washington's undeniable "energy" and "vibration" that solidifies him as a superstar before getting into the actual experience of having him as her director:

"Denzel's a movie star, right? He doesn't know s—t about directed TV. Debbie Allen was like, 'What can I do to keep Ellen interested? What can I do to keep Ellen here?' Right? Because after you left, I was like, 'Ah, why do I have to stay here? I gotta go now. Everyone's gone. Sandra [Oh]'s gone. Patrick's gone. I gotta go, too.' And Debbie was like, 'No, no, no! You gotta stick around! I'm gonna bring in a surprise for you.' And she would never tell me who it was. But she knew I was a huge fan. 

[...]

"All of the sudden, there he comes. And he came probably three weeks prior, so he could get caught up because Denzel doesn't watch much TV. He's probably never seen the show. He did the show because his wife is a big fan."

"The Sound of Silence" was based on a true story of an epileptic patient who seized and physically beat up a nurse. In the episode, Dr. Meredith Grey's (Pompeo, duh) jaw gets broken and was wired shut.

"I couldn't speak," Pompeo continued. "I had no dialogue. But anyway, working with Denzel was amazing. He went nuts on me. This is a good Denzel story."

Way to bury the lede.

The story:

"You have to have a thick skin to deal with Hollywood, in a number of different ways. You gotta be tough or you just can't hang. And so, this good Denzel story — and I love the guy. We know he's a big personality. One of the scenes at the end of the episode, and I have to go apologize to this man who beat me up, right? And so, Meredith was really hesitant and reluctant. Like, my jaw was broken, and I couldn't bring myself to go hear the apology from this character. And this man woke up and felt terrible about what he had done. But after what I had been through and all Meredith's been through, she was just at the point where she just wasn't having it. I don't care that he wants to apologize. I don't want to go hear him.

[...]

"Meredith does it reluctantly. So I get pushed up in the wheelchair. And he's in a chair. And we're sitting across from each other. And I didn't really want to talk to this actor or see this actor before we did this scene, so I didn't have much interaction with him at all. And then, he apologized to me, but he was doing it really softly. He made this choice to speak very softly, and I was p-ssed that I had to sit there and listen to this apology. And he wasn't looking at me in the eye. And I yelled at him, I was like, 'Look at me! When you apologize, look at me!' And that wasn't in the dialogue. And Denzel went ham on my -ss. He was like, 'I'm the director! Don't you tell him what to do!'"

The kicker is worth the wait: "I was like, 'Listen, motherf—r, this is my show! This is my set! Who are you telling?! Like, you barely know where the bathroom is!' And like, you know, I have the utmost respect for him as an actor, as a director, as everything, but yo, we went at it one day."

Pompeo ratted Washington out to his wife, Pauletta, for yelling at her and explained that she was "not OK" with Washington for doing so — refusing to look at or talk to him.

"We didn't get through it without a fight," she concluded. "But that's actors for you. 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's next directing gig after that Grey's episode was 2016 period drama Fences, which was nominated for best picture at the 89th Academy Awards in 2017. Washington starred opposite Viola Davis, who won an Oscar for best supporting actress.

Pompeo is one of three original cast members still on Grey's, along with Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr.

The upcoming season will feature original cast members Kate Burton and Kate Walsh reprising their roles of Dr. Ellis Grey and Dr. Addison Montgomery respectively.

Grey's will premiere its 18th season on Thursday beginning at 9 p.m. EST on ABC.