Ellen Pompeo says she was completely cut from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind because Kate Winslet’s performance was just too good.
Ellen Pompeo is opening up about the one movie she’s never watched—because her scenes didn’t make the final cut. During a candid chat with Katie Couric at the 2025 Tribeca Festival Storytellers event on June 14, Ellen Pompeo revealed she was originally in the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but ended up being “completely cut.”
Ellen Pompeo, 55, reflected on her past roles, citing appearances in Old School and Catch Me If You Can. But when it came to Eternal Sunshine, she admitted she never even saw the finished film because her part was removed—thanks, in part, to Kate Winslet’s powerhouse performance.
“And Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, yeah?” Ellen Pompeo said. “Which I got completely cut, got completely cut out of because Kate Winslet is in the movie. Of course, like, you have Kate Winslet, you definitely don’t need me.”
The film, which also starred Jim Carrey, went on to win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and earned Winslet an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. While Ellen Pompeo didn’t get to make her mark in the critically acclaimed movie, she’s since become a household name thanks to her role as Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy, which she joined in 2005.
But the Tribeca event wasn’t just about movie memories. Ellen Pompeo also made headlines for wearing a black medical boot on her foot. When Couric asked, “What the hell happened to your foot?” Ellen Pompeo quipped that she wished the story was “cool or sexy,” but it turned out to be anything but.
“I just, you know, was half asleep and jumped out of bed too quick and landed on my foot the wrong way. Somewhat clumsy of me,” she explained.
Even more surprisingly, it’s not her first time injuring herself like this. “This is almost like my party trick,” she joked. “I literally have done this three times… This is my second time doing it that way, being asleep and jumping out too fast.”
The first time she hurt her foot this way was during the second season of Grey’s Anatomy after a long day on set. “My alarm was set, and I was so tired, working crazy hours, and I forgot to shut off my alarm because it was Saturday, so I thought I had overslept. So, the alarm goes off, and I jump out of bed, and I step the wrong way,” she said, laughing.
“At least I had an excuse that time. This time, I have no excuse!”
