96 Facts About Meredith Grey

Meredith Grey made her first appearance in the pilot episode, "A Hard Day's Night", broadcast on March 27,2005.

Meredith Grey appears in the spin-off series Station 19 as a recurring character.

Meredith Grey eventually obtains the position of a surgical resident, and later, the position of an attending surgeon.

Meredith Grey serves as the narrator of the show and is the focal point of most episodes, though other characters' perspectives are explored.

Pompeo's performance as Meredith Grey has been well received throughout the series, leading to worldwide popularity for the character.

Meredith Grey is the daughter of world-renowned attending general surgeon, Ellis Grey, and grew up in her shadow.

Meredith Grey is capable of empathizing with others when they're at their lowest points and is a sensitive observer of the people around her.

However, after a month abroad, Meredith Grey is called back to care for her mother, who has developed early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

The night before Meredith Grey's internship begins, she has a one-night stand with Derek Shepherd, a man she meets at Joe's Bar.

Meredith Grey discovers the next day that he is a recently hired attending; the new head of neurosurgery at her new workplace, Seattle Grace Hospital.

Meredith Grey is particularly close with Cristina, who becomes her best friend and "person".

Richard was very close to Ellis and even had an affair with Ellis when Meredith Grey was a child.

Meredith Grey has a habit of "collecting strays", and allows her friends and coworkers to live in the house her mother left her.

Meredith Grey is endlessly loyal to those she deems her family, and will bend the traditional rules of morality or professional protocol to keep them safe.

Meredith Grey possesses a steadfast, calm ease during medical procedures and emergencies, and is a natural observer of people.

Meredith Grey resists Derek's advances throughout her internship, but is eventually charmed into starting a relationship with him despite misgivings about an intern dating an attending.

Meredith Grey is, therefore, shocked by the arrival of Addison Montgomery, Derek's wife, unaware that he was married.

Derek struggles to choose between the two, but ultimately returns to Addison, despite Meredith Grey begging to be chosen instead.

Meredith Grey is devastated and turns to multiple, self-destructive means of coping.

Meredith Grey tries to resolve some issues by searching for her long-absent father, Thatcher.

Meredith Grey learns that her father, who left when she was five and she has not seen since, remarried and had two more daughters.

Meredith Grey has a series of one-night stands, including one with George, who has long been in love with her.

Meredith Grey swears off her behavior, agrees to be friends only with Derek, and embarks on a relationship with veterinarian Finn Dandridge.

Derek regrets his decision to return to his wife, and Meredith Grey must decide whether to continue a relationship with Finn, or allow Derek a second chance.

Meredith Grey eventually realizes that Derek is the one, and the two get back together.

When Ellis experiences a rare, completely lucid day and expresses her immense disappointment at how ordinary Meredith Grey has turned out to be, Meredith Grey becomes depressed and possibly suicidal.

Ellis dies in the interim, and Meredith Grey meets with her mother, who tells her that she is anything but ordinary.

Meredith Grey undergoes another round of resuscitation at the insistence of Cristina.

Meredith Grey sees a therapist, Dr Wyatt, to seek happiness and begins to successfully tackle her issues.

Meredith Grey initially rejects Lexie's attempts to form a relationship, but slowly softens towards her.

Meredith Grey relies heavily on Cristina for emotional support and guidance.

Meredith Grey then spends a month out of commission after donating part of her liver to Thatcher.

Meredith Grey offers her own life in exchange for his and miscarries her baby during the crisis.

Meredith Grey goes through this traumatic experience with Cristina, who operates on Derek while threatened at gunpoint.

Meredith Grey is able to work through her issues and become cleared, but Cristina remains deeply traumatized.

Meredith Grey covers for and supports her friend through her dark time but is ultimately unable to fully help her return to surgery.

Meredith Grey decides to actively try to become pregnant but learns that she has a "hostile uterus", which leads her to consider her other possible genetic flaws.

Meredith Grey opts to work on the trial and appears to be leaning towards a neuro specialty.

Meredith Grey is fired and tries to conceal both this and her marital separation from the adoption counselor in order to keep Zola.

Meredith Grey chooses a general surgery specialty over neuro, and they successfully fight to get Zola back.

Meredith Grey decides to take a job offer at The Brigham and Women's Hospital as the next step in her career.

Cristina and Meredith Grey begin calling the hospital "Seattle Grace Mercy Death" in light of the immense amount of trauma, death, and pain they have experienced there.

Meanwhile, Meredith Grey asks Dr Bailey to perform gene mapping on her to finally know whether she has Alzheimer's genes like her mother.

Meredith Grey continues Meredith's tradition of keeping the house open to any "strays" needing a home.

Meredith Grey discovers she is pregnant with Derek's child ; however the pregnancy carries on.

Meredith Grey is frequently conflicted trying to balance between the two, and fears her family are hindering her medical aspirations, as much as she fears becoming like her mother whenever she's tempted to choose surgery over family.

The conflict between Cristina and Meredith Grey widens when Cristina commandeers Meredith Grey's resources for her own trial, ultimately garnering a Harper Avery nomination for Cristina.

Meredith Grey is in denial and rejects Maggie, thinking she would have remembered if her mother was pregnant.

Meredith Grey tries to piece together her relationship with her mother and half-sister by going through old videos of her mother.

Meredith Grey eventually recovers her repressed memories of the pregnancy when she views her mother's diary.

Meredith Grey receives an offer to head the project itself in Washington DC, meaning that he would have to be based there permanently.

Meredith Grey puts her foot down as she does not want to uproot their young family to move across the country for his career at the sacrifice of her own.

Meredith Grey ultimately encourages Derek to go to Washington, and Derek promptly leaves.

Meredith Grey privately admits to Alex that she has realized that she could live independently of Derek but chooses not to.

Derek is declared brain dead, and Meredith Grey must go to the medical center to consent to remove him from life support.

Meredith Grey sells the "dream house" and moves back to her mother's house, having purchased it back from Alex, and lives there with Maggie and Amelia Shepherd, her sister-in-law.

Later at the event, Meredith finds out Penny will be joining her at Grey Sloan Memorial.

Meredith Grey is forced to work with Penny, and over time, decides to effectively train her to be a better surgeon.

Alex and Meredith Grey continue their close, sibling-like relationship of being each other's "person", despite Jo's displeasure and inability to understand their closeness.

Meredith Grey recovers enough to start seeing Nathan Riggs, Owen Hunt's former best friend, although their relationship is complicated by the fact that Maggie confesses to Meredith Grey that she has feelings for Riggs.

Additionally, Meredith Grey is not ready to declare their relationship formally or publicly.

Meredith Grey starts dating again with the help of her matchmaker patient, CeCe, but is pursued by Andrew, who has realized his feelings for her.

Meredith Grey gets interest from Atticus Lincoln, a new orthopedic surgeon, and briefly finds herself in another love triangle.

Meredith Grey turns herself in and is sentenced to community service, while her medical license, though not revoked, is put in jeopardy.

Hayes and Meredith Grey grow closer and bond over their shared loss of a spouse.

Shortly after her breakup with Andrew, Meredith Grey learns that Alex has moved to Kansas to be with Izzie and will not be returning to Seattle.

Meredith Grey eventually recovers and gets strong enough to begin operating again.

Meredith Grey offers her the opportunity to help find a cure to Parkinson's disease.

In Season 19, Meredith Grey receives an offer to work in Boston at the Fox Foundation to research Alzheimer's disease.

Meredith Grey's agent suggested she audition, along with other projects she was considering at the time.

Rhimes admitted that casting Meredith Grey was challenging due to the role's strong verbal requirements.

Meredith Grey later learned that the actress in question was Pompeo, who already had a deal in place with ABC, having tested for a pilot on the network.

Pompeo was cast as the titular character, with Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times describing Meredith Grey as "a prickly, independent sort whose ambition, and ambivalence, is fueled by the fact that her mother was a gifted surgeon and now suffers from Alzheimer's".

Meredith Grey serves as the protagonist and focal point of Grey's Anatomy.

Meredith Grey has been described by Grey's Anatomy executives as "intelligent, compassionate, hard-working, oftentimes outspoken, easily distracted, and indecisive".

Ellen Pompeo has reflected on her character's evolving personality, noting that Meredith Grey's journey has moved from a state of depression to one of relative happiness and being "fixed".

Meredith Grey characterizes Grey as doing what she thinks is right:.

Meredith Grey is the girl who put her hand on a bomb in a body cavity.

Meredith Grey is the girl who tried to help a serial killer kill himself, so that he could donate his organs.

In Season 2, Meredith Grey has a one-night stand with George O'Malley, an encounter that significantly impacts both characters.

Meredith Grey's personality has been compared with that of Alex Karev's.

Pompeo has consistently advocated for a truthful and realistic storyline for her character, Meredith Grey, emphasizing that life's complexities can't always be wrapped up neatly.

Meredith Grey strives for authenticity in portraying Meredith's emotional journey, and this commitment has shaped many of her character's defining moments.

However, Meredith Grey has been criticized by some viewers for being "whiny," a perception that Rhimes addressed.

I've heard a lot of talk about Meredith Grey being whiny but the truth is, she's got a mom [who died of] Alzheimer's, no other family to speak of, and the man she loves is married.

The initial response to the character was positive, but as the series progressed Meredith Grey became immensely popular and Pompeo established the character as a critic and fan favorite featuring on a number of Top TV Character lists.

Meredith Grey has constantly been defined as "the heroine of Meredith Grey's Anatomy".

Meredith Grey is the heart and soul of the show and has been outstanding.

Meredith Grey had graduated medical school, she was starting her residency at a prestigious hospital, and she was simply looking for a no-strings attached, one night stand.

Meredith Grey had some of the more memorable and well-played scenes, from her angry response to the doctor who tries to tell her what her choices are, to her resignation when she realizes she has to comfort and motivate the young doctor whose mistakes cost Derek his life.

When Derek left for Washington, DC to pursue his research, Meredith Grey stayed behind and focused on her own career.

Meredith Grey's priority were her children and the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

Meredith Grey showed that she would never put aside her own dreams and aspirations for a man, and I believe that this won't change after Derek's death.

Meredith Grey was part of the cast that was awarded the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series at the 13th Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2007, and received nominations in the same category in 2006 and 2008.

In 2007, Pompeo, along with the female cast and crew of Meredith Grey's Anatomy, received the Women in Film Lucy Award, which honors individuals whose work in television has positively influenced attitudes toward women.

Meredith Grey was consistently nominated for multiple categories at the People's Choice Awards each year, starting in 2012 alongside Patrick Dempsey and Sandra Oh.