Denzel Washington is one of the most iconic and legendary actors of our time, but even with all the pedigree that he carries, he isn’t immune to the occasional spat between other actors.
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Speaking during the debut episode of her new podcast Tell Me (via Vulture), actress Ellen Pompeo spoke about an incident that occurred a few years ago on the set of the hit medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. According to Pompeo, she got into it with Denzel — who was on set as a guest director for an episode — during a scene.
“He made this choice to speak very softly,” she said of a particular scene partner. “And I was pissed that I had to sit there and listen to this apology, and he wasn’t looking at me in the eye. Again, we love actors who make choices, right? And I yelled at him, and 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 ass.”
Pompeo went on to note that Denzel told her that he was the director and that she shouldn’t be telling people what to do. According to the actress, that set her off and led to an argument between the two.
“And I was like, ‘Listen, motherf——, this is my show. This is my set. Who are you telling?’ Like, ‘You barely know where the bathroom is,’” Pompeo said. “And I have the utmost respect for him as an actor, as a director, as everything, but like, yo, we went at it one day.”
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Pompeo ended the story by noting that at the end of the day, it was an amazing experience working with Denzel, and chalked the entire incident up to a case of actors being actors.
