Ellen Pompeo’s resume is one for the record books: she’s one of the highest paid women on television (playing gutsy Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy since 2005), an activist for equal pay, diversity in the workplace, animal welfare and a slew of other causes, a mother, a wife, and most recently, brand ambassador for Cindy Crawford’s skin-care line Meaningful Beauty. We got a chance to speak to the star for the inside scoop.
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NewBeauty: What is your earliest beauty memory?
Ellen Pompeo: The first time I saw Michelle Pfeiffer’s face—it took my breath away.
NB: What does your skin-care routine look like?
EP: I’m more of the five-minute type!
NB: Which Meaningful Beauty products do you use in those five minutes?
EP: I use the cleanser, the melon serum and the day cream with SPF if I’m going to be in the sun.
NB: What has been your favorite beauty discovery of the year?
EP: Frequency facials with Joanna Vargas. I don’t love fillers or Botox, so I have to get a lot of facials and drink a ton of water. I feel like the frequency facial makes a difference in my skin—it makes it tighter.
NB: What is your advice for women who don’t think they measure up to today’s beauty standards?
EP: Beauty comes from what kind of person you are and what your contribution is to the world, and you should focus more on that than your physical appearance. Obviously everyone wants to look their best, but I think that confident women are the most beautiful, and confidence comes from other things—how kind you are or how you help the world—not from what you look like.
NB: What has been your favorite season of Grey’s?
EP: I think the first season is probably my favorite because the chemistry was just complete magic between all of the cast and we really had no idea what the result would be for what we were working on. We filmed the first entire season before it aired—so we really had no idea.
NB: Have you learned any beauty hacks or tips on the set of Grey’s all these years?
EP: I learned from my team to have hair and makeup done at the same time. So now, I have my hair and makeup down to 30 minutes.
NB: Activism is very important to you. Which causes are you most passionate about?
EP: I’m very passionate about racial equality, and also about the environment and our use of single-use plastics and animals.
NB: What is your guilty pleasure?
EP: The show 90 Day Fiancé.
