Ellen Pompeo Says Denzel Washington ‘Went Ham on My A**’ On ‘Greys Anatomy’

On a recent episode of her podcast, Tell Me with Ellen Pompeo, Ellen Pompeo opened up about what it was like having Denzel Washington direct a 2016 episode of Grey’s Anatomy.

Source: Getty Images / Getty Images

While they were filming the ninth episode of the 12th season of Grey’s Anatomy, “The Sound of Silence,” Pompeo admitted to her podcast guest Patrick Dempsey that her and Washington “went at it.” It all happened after the actress tried to improvised a line of dialogue.

“I was like, ‘Look at me when you apologize. Look at me,’” she recalled yelling at another actor during the scene. “And that wasn’t in the dialogue. And Denzel went ham on my a**. He was like, ‘I’m the director. Don’t you tell him what to do.’”

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

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