Ellen Pompeo told Insider she invitedScott Speedman on "Grey's" to "send the female fans wild."- Speedman told Insider the "Hollywood heartthrob" label used to bother him, "but not anymore."
Sparks are flying between
Pompeo told Insider during an interview to promote her company, Betr Remedies, in November 2021 that she invited her real-life friend Speedman back to play her love interest because she knew he would send sparks flying in fans' hearts, too.
Pompeo, who has been playing Meredith for 18 seasons and counting and is also a co-executive producer on the show, said that she was struggling to find a way to top all of the returning guest stars on season 17 when an idea came to her.
Inviting Speedman back to reprise his role as Nick was "the only thing I could think of that would really send the female fans wild and really be super fun," Pompeo said.
Speedman had only appeared on one episode of "Grey's" in season 14 prior to becoming a series regular on the current season, but it was a memorable guest spot for fans who instantly noticed the chemistry between Pompeo and Speedman.
Speaking with Insider in a separate interview on Wednesday, Speedman chuckled when he heard Pompeo's logic for asking him back. He said that when he was younger, he viewed the "Hollywood heartthrob" label as "a bit of a hindrance," but "not anymore."
"As you get older, you don't take it as seriously, and you just sort of more have fun with it and know that it's part of the job and it comes with the territory," Speedman said. "You can kind of just forget about it and do your job and have fun."
As for that heat we feel between the two actors? They feel it, too.
"I can tell when I really have electricity with someone. It's quite obvious to me," Pompeo told Insider in November.
Speedman echoed that on Wednesday: "Chemistry is a real thing. Sometimes it's because you trust each other and you understand the other person's a good actor and you sort of have a bond outside of the work."
Asked to describe the feeling on-set in particularly charged moments between Nick and Meredith, he compared it to "an athlete getting into his own groove, playing a sport."
"You just sort of get out of your head and can drop into the words a little easier and not being self-conscious," he continued, noting that it's an "easy" thing to do with Pompeo because she knows the character of Meredith "so well."
So, what does Nick bring into Meredith's life that she hasn't been able to find since her husband, Derek Shepherd, died on season 11 of "Grey's Anatomy"?
Speedman said Nick "allows her" an escape from the grind of her life in Washington. "And, I think for the first time in a while, she feels like she can trust somebody who's her equal match," he said.
As for what's to come throughout the rest of season 18 for the new couple, Speedman said, "I can't give you any spoilers because I don't have any," but teased that distance might begin to put a strain on the new relationship because Nick is based in Minnesota and Meredith will not move her kids away from Seattle.
"I think both of them have to take a look in the mirror and think about what they want and where they're going to be together or not," he said. "So I think that'll play into the last part of the season."
"Grey's Anatomy" airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on