Ellen Pompeo, who plays Meredith Grey on the fan-adored, ratings blockbuster Grey’s Anatomy, recently participated in a delightful interview with TV Guide. Did you know that Ellen used to be a cocktail waitress? That when hospitals recognize her, her relatives get special treatment? And that she’s played two psychotic killers in earlier roles? Even though Izzy will always be our favorite Grey’s character, Ellen’s interview is a good read.

TV Guide: How much like Meredith Grey are you?
Pompeo: She wasn’t much of a student, and that certainly was me. The fact that I’m convincing is a huge triumph for me because I’m not that [kind of] book person. I adore books but on my time and not in a classroom. I was very restless. I’m a gypsy at heart. As soon as I turned 18, I started traveling.

TV Guide: Where did you go?
Pompeo: I went to Europe, and then I spent three years cocktail-waitressing in Miami in the early ‘90s when it was fabulous. When I first got there, it looked like a scene out of Scarface: old people sitting on the porches, and all these dilapidated hotels. And then I moved to New York City in the mid-‘90s.

TV Guide: And instantly found fame and fortune?
Pompeo: Actually, I bartended. My first professional job was a L’Oreal commercial. They dyed my hair fire-engine red. It was supposed to go away after six washes but, you know, bright copper hair doesn’t wash out that quickly!

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