Ellen Pompeo Reveals Why She Doesn't Want Her 10-Year-Old Daughter Sienna to Watch Grey's Anatomy

Ellen Pompeo isn't quite ready for her younger daughter to watch her in Grey's Anatomy.

During her appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the Good American Family actress, 55, spoke about how Shonda Rhimes' hit medical drama is gaining a new audience in the younger generation as the series celebrates its 20th anniversary. Pompeo, who shares three children with music producer Chris Ivery, shared with host Jimmy Kimmel the reason she doesn't want her 10-year-old daughter Sienna to watch the show yet.

"My 15-year-old [Stella] has seen it, and now my 10-year-old wants to see it," she told the late-night host, 57. "She's not ready, but a lot of kids in her class have seen it."

"No judgment on other parents. But I don't want my daughter to see me in my underwear on television just yet," she continued, before adding, "But all her classmates have so... That makes for great conversation at pick-up."

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The Grey's Anatomy star has been married since 2007, and together they share three kids: Eli, 6, Sienna, and Stella. After stepping back from her role on Grey's, Pompeo told daytime show host Drew Barrymore, 50, in December 2022 that she's "super happy" and looking forward to spending more time with her children.

"I have three kids and so I take care of them, and it's really important for me to be around for them and be more present for them," she said.

Though the actress has been very private about her family life, she has opened up about her family on occasion. Speaking with PEOPLE in 2016, Pompeo discussed the importance of role models and that she makes a point to expose her daughters to "beautiful, powerful, strong Black women," whether it's in magazines or on TV.

"My daughters are Black, so it's very important to me that they see a lot of images of beautiful, powerful, strong Black women," she told PEOPLE. "Every time there is a Black woman on a magazine cover, whether it is Kerry Washington or whoever it is, I make sure that magazine is in my house and on my table. For me, that's super important."

The Catch Me If You Can actress previously spoke with PEOPLE about the wisdom she hopes to pass down to her young girls.

"We get better with age," she began. "We should empower each other and have compassion for each other and help each other and feel good about ourselves."

“I think there’s a lot of glass ceilings and we have to keep busting all of them,” she added, explaining how she wants to work to achieve equality. “So this is one glass ceiling that definitely needs to be broken. The truth is, we do get better with age. It’s just society has told us forever that we don’t. And for some reason we believe that because men want us to believe that they get better with age, but really it’s us who get better with age.”