Ellen Pompeo Talks All About Negotiating Her Massive 'Grey's' Payday

Ellen Pompeo is on a special subscribed cover for InStyle‘s April 2018 issue!

Here’s what the Grey’s Anatomy star had to share:

On negotiating her $575,000/episode rate: “In all negotiations they don’t immediately give in, and this is also quite a big cast, so they have everybody to deal with, but eventually we got what we wanted. I would say the only time you ever have a good negotiating position is if you’re completely willing to walk away. That’s the only real strength you have. And I never really was there until this last round. I asked for everything on Grey’s because I saw a piece of paper that told me it had generated $3 billion for Disney. That information changed the game for me: knowing my numbers and having information as to what my actual worth was. Over the years lots of characters have come and gone, lots of writers have come and gone. The one thing that’s remained on the show is me, so that’s how I arrived at my confidence.”

On communicating with people above you in a professional hierarchy: “I lead with kissing ass… you always want to start with the positive.”

On sticking to what she knows: “…I’ve been on Grey’s Anatomy forever, and I don’t chase relevancy or trophies. A lot of girls would rather have the attention, and then they realize in their 40s that they have no money to feed their kids and they’re fucked…I made the choice to be OK with no awards and no attention and make it just about going to work and punching the clock. Which I think is healthier for the ego down the line.”

For more from Ellen, visit InStyle.com.