I love that. You look fantastic. Thank you. Welcome.

And this is your 14th-- 14th! 14th time here on the show, 14th season on Gray's Anatomy. Yes.

And thank you for supporting me all these years. Of course. Yeah.

I mean, we've almost been doing this the same amount of time, right?

Yeah. Your show is 15 years. 15 years, 14 years.

And I'm very, very excited for everything that's going on.

First of all, let's just go back to when you got the offer for this.

You wouldn't even read the script at first.

Why didn't you want to take it?

Because medical shows-- ER was on at the time.

And every time I watched it, it made me really anxious.

I was hypochondriac, think there's something wrong with me.

Has it helped or hurt your hypochondriac self? Helped and hurt at different times.

At certain times, I think I know what to do. And then other times, it's-- You go to a place of I have this thing.

I had a kidney stone on Saturday and ended up in the ER. And I thought I was dying.

I had no idea what it was. I thought I was dying for sure.

So you really had a kidney stone? I did. I did.

But I didn't know that's what it was. How have you been on 14 seasons and not know--

--not know the symptoms of a kidney stone?

That's what I'm saying. Well, y'all need to do an episode on a kidney stone.

No, I'll be great at it. For sure. All right.

So let's talk about what's going on in your life right now.

So you did a story. Hollywood Reporter talked about you being the highest paid actress on a drama on television.

Congratulations, first of all. Thank you.

I mean, most people don't talk about what they make, but especially when it comes to women because there has been such inequality.

And when you started the show, you didn't make as much as your male co-star.

And yet it's called Gray's Anatomy and it's you. But why did you share this story?

I think there are certain moments where it's important to be really truthful about our pain and about our struggles.

I recently read the article about your 20-year anniversary of your show, and the whole story about you coming out and how painful that was.

And look at what came out of that. I could cry just recalling that article.

It was a monumental moment for the gay and lesbian community, for you in your life.

And like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, look at you now.

I think that sometimes you have to go through painful things to just be an example.

If you have a platform-- we have a platform.

And the women who have approached me from all walks of life since this article came out, I've really been shocked and really moved.

But so shocked and so moved about how many women just run up to me and want to share their stories.

Because I think as women, sometimes we're afraid to ask.

We're afraid to be vocal. We're taught not to be. They like us quiet, as we've seen from this administration.

So I think it's really important to encourage each other,

encourage other women to stand up and be strong,

and know that we will be OK and we have each other's backs.

Yeah. And I think that it's OK--

I think that it makes it OK then, the more that this happens, for other women to support women.

Because some people come from a place of lack.

Like, oh, if somebody has something, I'm not going to get it.

And there's abundance. Everyone can have whatever they want.

So just because you're making a whole lot of money doesn't mean another woman is not going to make that money.

Look at us. This is two Ellens, both with TV shows. We're both doing great.

There's two seats at the table. And that speaks to what you just said, is so poignant, because it's true.

That speaks to civil rights and equal rights.

And there's that notion-- this is a much broader conversation--

but because you have means I don't get is a very deep rooted thing where racism and sexism is based.

And so it's important to talk about that and unearth that, and just simply dispel it and say that is simply not true.

So there's talk that these two co-stars of yours are not coming back, right? Yeah.

Jessica and Sarah? Yeah, Jessica Capshaw and Sarah Drew.

Now there's rumors that it's because--

they're using the excuse that they're paying you so much that there's not enough money to pay them to come back.

That is absolutely not true. It's absolutely not true.

I mean, I'm not involved in these kind of decisions.

However, there's a few problems that you encounter doing a show for 14 seasons.

And one of them is the writers have a really hard time creatively, thinking up new stories for all these characters.

And I mean, I think we have 16 regular cast members.

And it's always sad when we lose people, for whatever reason.

Whether they want to go or they don't want to go, it doesn't make it any easier. Yeah.

I just want to make sure because I don't want that to be a perception out there,

that it's somehow attached to your paycheck, that because they're leaving for different reasons or whatever.

I appreciate you doing that. Thank you.

I think that it's important for us to not pit women against each other and to really dispel the notion that women are always victims.

You don't have to pit us against each other. We're not enemies.

We do lift each other up and support each other. And we're not victims.

We're very strong. And we're capable of many, many things.