The Intense Grey's Anatomy Scene That Put Ellen Pompeo's Stunt Double In The Hospital
Throughout the past 18 seasons, "Grey's Anatomy" has delivered unforgettable moments ranging from emotional rollercoasters to edge-of-your-seat intensity for audiences. One of those episodes is Season 2, Episode 17, "As We Know It." This serves as a continuing storyline after a patient comes into the OR with a bomb inside him in Episode 16 of Season 2 (via IMDb). Following that, Meredith now has her hand in the cavity, making sure the audience is left on the edge of their seat as they wait for the resolution.
Ellen Pompeo, who plays the iconic character in the ABC medical drama, explained that a moment in this episode landed her stunt double in the ER. "That was actually a stunt double that got a concussion and had to go the ER," she tweeted.
So which scene was it, and how did they continue to film the sequence?
That heart-stopping bomb sequence stunt
After they manage to remove the bomb from inside of the man, Meredith Grey follows members of the bomb squad out into the hallway, and seconds later, it goes off. The moment is both heart-stopping and dramatic as the character flies back and roughly hits her head on the floor. What you might not know is that Ellen Pompeo also had to perform the difficult stunt herself. She recalled the experience, saying, "The director insisted I do it after the professional got hurt of course they would ask me to do it and of course being the people pleaser I was ... I said yes knowing they would use the take where she hit her head anyway because that looks so dramatic."
She did have a lesson to share with followers: Don't do things that make you uncomfortable — people will see you as difficult no matter what. The actress ended by adding, "It was about 2:30 a.m. and we'd been shooting easily 15 hours at that point I was physically and mentally exhausted from shooting the other parts of that scene and knew it was dangerous and I still did it anyway ... not to be a hero ... to not be a 'problem.'"
Season 19 of "Grey's Anatomy" premieres on Thursday, October 6 at 9 p.m. EST.