‘Grey's Anatomy' female cast got dolled up when Denzel Washington came to set, star says
The Grey Sloan doctors stayed on call for this one.
When Denzel Washington directed an episode of the long-running medical drama 'Grey's Anatomy,' some of the female actors were ready to get to shooting — and STAT.
Jason George, who has played Dr. Ben Warren on the show since Season 6, revealed exactly how the day went down in 2016.
11 Jason George at the Emmys Pickleball Slam.
CraSH/Shutterstock
'Denzel Washington directed an episode, and it was an incredible episode that everybody was on their best [behavior] for,' the actor, 53, exclusively told The Post at the 2025 Emmys Pickleball Slam fundraiser on Sunday. 'Everyone shows up professionally anyway, but when Denzel's directing your episode, everyone came [correct].'
Washington, 70, directed Season 12 Episode 9 of 'Grey's Anatomy,' titled 'The Sound of Silence.'
'First off, the women showed up dressed up at 5 a.m. in the morning,' George recalled. 'I was like, 'Y'all don't dress up for us on the regular.' But I would love to see him in front of the camera on the show. It's never going to happen, but you've got to put it out there.'
The 'Eve' alum would, however, love to see Washington scrub into a prestigious role.
11 Denzel Washington in 2016 in New York City.
Getty Images
'I'm hoping he does it,' George told The Post. 'It's Denzel. He's got to come in as the doctor who is that dude, and everyone's geeked out and excited about him. He's got to come in as the expert.'
The show's iconic leading lady, Ellen Pompeo, reminisced in 2021 about an argument she got into with Washington during the 2016 episode he directed. At the time, he didn't like when Pompeo gave pointers to another actor during a scene.
'[My scene partner] made this choice to speak very softly — and I was pissed that I had to sit there and listen to this apology,' the actress, 55, said while on her former 'Tell Me with Ellen Pompeo' podcast. 'And he wasn't looking at me in the eye. Again, we love actors who make choices. And I yelled at him, I was like, 'Look at me! When you apologize, look at me!' And that wasn't in the dialogue.'
11 Jason George as Dr. Ben Warren on ABC's 'Grey's Anatomy.'
Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
Washington didn't take kindly to Pompeo's reaction.
'Denzel went ham on my ass,' she recalled. 'He was like, 'I'm the director! Don't you tell him what to do!' I was like, 'Listen, motherf–ker, this is my show! This is my set! Who are you telling? You barely even know where the bathroom is!''
Pompeo made it clear that she had the 'utmost respect for him as an actor, as a director, as everything' — but still ratted him out to his wife, Pauletta Washington, 74.
'I told his wife, I was like, 'Yeah, he yelled at me today,'' she admitted. ''He let me have it today, and I'm not OK with him, and I'm not looking at him, and I'm not talking to him.''
11 Jason George on 'Grey's Anatomy.'
ABC via Getty Images
George, meanwhile, starred as a series regular on 'Grey's Anatomy' before spearheading the firefighter spinoff 'Station 19,' which ended after seven seasons in May 2024.
Now, he's made his return to Grey Sloan Memorial to pick up where he left off alongside his on-screen wife, Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson).
Although 'Grey's Anatomy' comes with a high pulse rate for viewers, George isn't opposed to dipping his toes into other projects that get the heart pumping.
11 Grey's Anatomy Season 12 Episode 9 'The Sound of Silence.'
ABC
'I'm an action junkie,' he confessed. 'I'm an adrenaline junkie ever since I was a kid. I did a lot of things that my mom found out about later when I was an adult, that she was very mad about — that if my kids did, I would kill them!'
'So, they spun me off from the doctor show onto the firefighter show, 'Station 19,' so I got to get a little of my action fix there, but not full out,' shared George. 'I want to do some Tom Cruise hanging off the side of an airplane stuff.'
'I have a lot of stunt coordinator and stunt people friends,' he added, 'and if they rig me up properly, you can hang me off anything. Off the side of a plane, off a building, I'm good. I trust and I am down for the rush.'
11 Ellen Pompeo in 'The Sound of Silence.'
ABC
11 Jason George in 'The Sound of Silence.'
ABC
For now, George will continue providing top-notch medical care on the Shonda Rhimes-created series, which has ran for 21 seasons since 2005.
'Coming back to 'Grey's Anatomy; really has been a homecoming—it actually feels like coming back to your parents' house,' he told EBONY in October about his return. 'It's a blessing to keep exploring Ben Warren's journey. And that's what brought me back.'
'One of my most memorable moments on 'Grey's Anatomy' was in an episode called 'Silent All These Years,'' George recounted to the outlet. 'It's a powerful episode about rape and sexual assault, where I played a small but important part. Ben has a talk with his stepson, Tuck, about how a real man treats a woman and what consent means.'
11 Grey's Anatomy Season 12 Episode 9 'The Sound of Silence' directed by Denzel Washington.
ABC
11 Jason George on 'Station 19.'
Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
'I felt honored to be repping the true model of masculinity, and the fact that it was a Black man talking to his teenager made it that much more satisfying.'
In April, Pompeo got candid on why she'll never leave 'Grey's' for good, despite taking on a less forward-facing role the past few seasons.
'That would make no sense, emotionally or financially,' the actress, who plays Dr. Meredith Grey, said during an interview with El País. 'The show was streamed more than a billion times in 2024. More than a billion times.'
11 Season 12 of ABC's 'Grey's Anatomy.'
Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
11 Jason George plays pickleball at the Emmys Pickleball Slam.
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
'The companies that own the show and stream the show make a lot of money from our images and our voices and our faces,' Pompeo continued. 'If I were to walk away completely, everybody gets to make money from my hard work for 20 years, and I wouldn't make any money.'
After 21 seasons, the 'Good American Family' star expressed that 'it doesn't make any sense that everybody gets to profit off of my hard work.'
'And emotionally, the show means a lot to people,' Pompeo noted. 'I want to have an attitude of gratitude toward the show.'
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