Grey’s Anatomy star James Pickens Jr has opened up about his “special relationship” with co-star Ellen Pompeo.
The actor has played the role of Richard Webber on the show since its inception in 2005, with his and Pompeo’s character Meredith Grey showing a close bond over the years.
In a recent season 20 episode, that relationship was demonstrated with Richard supporting Meredith while her son Bailey was in hospital, James telling Digital Spy that creating a bond with his co-star over the years has been “great”.
“Obviously she’s the Grey in Grey’s you know,” he noted. “Ellen’s an amazing actress, she’s so committed to that character and that character obviously is the engine that drives the machine that’s Grey’s Anatomy.
“I’ve been so lucky to be able to share a lot of really wonderful moments with her as an actress. She’s always been very giving to me, we’ve got a special kind of relationship that goes kind of unspoken.”
James further explained that they “work well off each other without it being a strain” and it feels “organic”.
“It just happens and it comes out of a place of respect, for the talent but also respect for the person and there would be not Grey’s Anatomy without Ellen’s character.
“I’m happy and proud that I was able to help navigate that through our relationship but yeah she’s a lot of fun,” he added.
“She’s funny, she’s got a little street in her, you know, from that Boston area, that I like so yeah she’s an amazing lady.”
Asked which of the pair’s storylines over the years is his favourite, James admitted there have “been so many”.
“There’s some flashback episodes with her mother and I think that might have been season one, season two, when we flashback to a park and there’s a carousel,” he revealed.
“I’m basically telling Ellis that we can’t continue doing what we’re doing and we start to see the first signs of Ellis’ decline very early on.
“We see Meredith’s character as a child, how this affects Richard. She’s a kind of de facto daughter, for lack of a better term, before Maggie comes along. But he’s always had a special place for her.”
The star added: “That episode for me was one that says a lot about where he was in his life then and the choices he had to make and how those choices were going to affect other people.
“The fact that we fast forward and now Meredith is now an intern in our first, opening episode and I tell her, I said, ‘I know who you are right off, welcome to the game.’ I’m as excited about it as she is.”
Grey’s Anatomy season 20 and Station 19’s final season are airing on ABC in the US. Both shows stream on Disney+ in the UK.