![Grey's Anatomy fans stunned after realising Ellen Pompeo was in Friends](https://images.ladbible.com/resize?type=webp&quality=70&width=3840&fit=contain&gravity=auto&url=https://images.ladbiblegroup.com/v3/assets/blt8bbf16c2d7a209e5/blt5d28a9b92a377ce8/66976ccbd3d85e54c4076935/greys-anatomy-fans-stunned-after-realising-ellen-pompeo-was-in-friends.png)
Grey's Anatomy fans have this week been utterly blindsided whilst watching Friends back back and spotting a familiar face in the line-up of one particular flashback episode, in the form of Grey's favourite, Ellen Pompeo.
I know, it's the cross-over we never knew we needed.
![The sitcom featured countless celebrity guests. (NBC)](https://images.ladbible.com/resize?type=webp&quality=70&width=3840&fit=contain&gravity=auto&url=https://images.ladbiblegroup.com/v3/assets/blt8bbf16c2d7a209e5/blt49b15c0b36a287ba/669771ddd991782a0675b4f1/Screenshot_2024-07-17_at_08.24.37.png)
Advert
By the time the 90s sitcom reached its 10th and final instalments, fans of the show were hardly surprised anymore to see a huge-name celebrity guest star featuring in the line-up.
After all, throughout the decade that the much-loved sitcom aired, we lost track of how many familiar faces took up a minor role.
From Oscar-winning actors like Robin Williams, Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt, to international supermodels like Isabella Rossellini and Jill Goodacre - we've seen them all.
What many fans of the show - who have been watching on repeat since it ended in 2004 - don't realise, however, is that Friends was actually a starting gig for many now hugely successful stars, one of these names being Meredith Grey actress Ellen Pompeo.
Advert
It's true - the original Grey's Anatomy frontwoman actually made an appearance in one episode of the show, alongside series regulars Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kidrow, Matthew Perry, Matt Le Blanc and David Schwimmer.
![Ellen plays Meredith Grey in Grey's Anatomy. (ABC)](https://images.ladbible.com/resize?type=webp&quality=70&width=3840&fit=contain&gravity=auto&url=https://images.ladbiblegroup.com/v3/assets/blt8bbf16c2d7a209e5/blt36ca0e6b1ea31897/669772215f59715b15b378ce/Screenshot_2024-07-17_at_08.25.42.png)
If you're not a die-hard fan of the show, you might not be able to place Ellen, who was only in her early twenties during the minor appearance.
But if you cast your mind back to the episode where Chandler and Ross attend their college reunion - bizarrely titled 'The One Where The Stripper Cries' (if you know, you know...) - you might have an easier time remembering.
Advert
Alright, let us help you out. Ellen played the brotherly duo's former love interest Missy Goldberg, being one of the women that the pair had a pact not to date, so as not to hurt the others' feelings.
At the reunion, however, with Chandler now happily married to Monica, Ross finally asks Missy out.
Asked why he never did so earlier, the palaeontologist tells the noughties beauty: "He [Chandler] and I both really liked you a lot, but we didn't want anything to jeopardize our friendship - so we kinda made a pact that neither of us could ask you out."
"Really?" Missy then asks, before Ross confirms, "Yeah - why?"
Advert
Ellen's character then hilariously reveals: "Well, Chandler and I used to make out. A lot!"
"You did?" a visibly horrified Ross asks. "Yeah," Missy adds. "We'd go to the science lab after hours..."
"And on my turf?!" Ross then yells.
![Ellen plays a former love interest for Chandler and Ross. (NBC)](https://images.ladbible.com/resize?type=webp&quality=70&width=3840&fit=contain&gravity=auto&url=https://images.ladbiblegroup.com/v3/assets/blt8bbf16c2d7a209e5/blt0df12545b9b1b163/66977159034a4b2b947f9d2c/Screenshot_2024-07-17_at_08.20.10.png)
Advert
I know, who'd have known at the time that such a minor role would lead to the now 54-year-old actress landing a lead part in arguably the world's most successful medical drama?
If you were none the wiser about her beginnings in Friends, however, don't worry - you weren't the only one.
"How did I never know this... wow," one admitted on Reddit this week.
Another went on to confess: "I didn't know Ellen Pompeo had a role in Friends until today."
Topics: Celebrity, Friends, Grey's Anatomy, TV And Film, Reddit, Social Media