EXCLUSIVE Hollywood A-lister reveals why she blames Kate Winslet for being cut from blockbuster
The Grey's Anatomy actress, 55, was reflecting on the early days of career – before she became a household name thanks to her notable role of Dr Meredith Grey – when she shared that she didn't make the final cut in Michel Gondry's award-winning film.
Speaking to Katie Couric at Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday, Pompeo recalled her acting work before taking up the offer of filming the Grey's Anatomy pilot.
'I did Catch Me If You Can with Stephen [Spielberg],' she recalled.
'I did Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which I got completely cut out of because Kate Winslet is in the move of course.'
She then joked: 'If you have Kate Winslet, you definitely don't need me.'
Written by Charlie Kaufman and released in 2004, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a surrealist science fiction romantic drama.
With Winslet, 49, and Jim Carey, 63, at the helm, the film follows Clementine (Winslet) as she undergoes a procedure to erase memories of her former boyfriend Joel (Carrey) from her mind.
When Joel discovers that Clementine is going to extremes to forget their relationship, he undergoes the same procedure and slowly begins to forget the woman that he loved.
The film won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2005, while Kate was nominated for the Best Actress gong.
It also picked up a BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing, and Jim and Kate were both nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress.
Besides Winslet and Carrey, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind also starred Kristen Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, and Tom Wilkinson.
Elsewhere in her talk at Tribeca Film Festival, Ellen reflected on her appearance in the 2002 movie Moonlight Mile, directed by Brad Silberling.
Pompeo starred alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon, and Holly Hunter in the film, but sadly it failed to attract appeal and flopped at the box office.
Although it flopped, Pompeo believed that the film would be her big break.
'It was the best thing that never happened, is what I say,' Pompeo said as she discussed the film's lackluster performance and how her career stalled thereafter. 'And I love that phrase because it really is.
'I think the universe comes in and takes over for you at certain moments and not everything you think should be the next thing you should do.
'Had I gotten all that attention and had all the things that they told me were going to happen for me, had they happened in that moment, I may not have been ready for them.
'There's no guarantee that that necessarily was the best path for me.'
Pompeo continued: 'I don't necessarily think fame and attention are the best path for any young person. I think it's a really slippery slope.
'So, in that moment for me to really have to learn that lesson, to see all of these really important people in the industry are building me up and building me up, I believed it for a hot second and then they pulled the rug from under me, which was like thank you universe, because that's life. That's what can happen.'
Returning to Moonlight Mile's failure, Pompeo said: 'They didn't know how to market it. I think they felt it was too sad and so they sort of didn't really give it a chance.'
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