Ellen Pompeo took the world by storm for her role as Meredith Grey in ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’ She’s been featured on the show for the last 20 years. Since she landed that role, Pompeo has only been in a few movies and even fewer television shows. Her television credits include Willow la chatte in ‘Doc McStuffins’ and a guest star role on ‘Law and Order’ as Jenna Weber.
Pompeo is now taking on Kritisine Barnett in Hulu’s ‘Good American Family.’ The show follows the real story of Natalia Grace, a Ukrainian-born girl, who was adopted by an Indiana family and abandoned by them a few months later.
The show is addicting, with only two episodes currently airing, I’m itching for the next one. The actions done by Natalia Grace in the show left me audibly gasping. In the first episode, the show makers hint at the abuse performed by the girl without fully showing her torment. The dark lighting and tracking shots within the drama increased my heart rate because I was excited for what was to come.
Pompeo is a strong female lead character. Kristine Barnett is a mother of three who runs a school for children with autism. She advocates for kids with disabilities, which is why she believed Natalia Grace was a gift from God.
Pompeo embodies this role completely. As an audience member, I feel like I am going through this traumatic period with her – feeling her pain, happiness and sorrow.
Despite loving her character, I cannot see Pompeo as anyone other than Meredith Grey. The internet has focused on the “Meredith Grey walk,” which of course is featured in ‘Good American Family’ as Pompeo has a similar gait as she did 20 years ago. I am able to separate Grey and Barnett, but there are times when I find myself laughing because some actions in this new show are similar to her long-running drama.
A good show always has characters that audience members don’t like. Common unlikable characters are Professor Umbridge from ‘Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix’ and Professor Callahan from “Legally Blonde.”
I do not like Michael Barnett, played by Mark Duplass, at all. He constantly defends Natalie Grace and clearly has mental disabilities of his own. I cringe every time one of his scenes comes on. In the second episode, he screams and cries in his car and I laughed through the whole scene. Not because the acting was bad, but because I was uncomfortable, which is definitely the point of the scene.
All hats off to the actors in this production because it’s hard to create a world that feels so realistic where audience members can love and hate certain individuals.
I would love to see Pompeo in more drama productions coming up. Her work in this show is phenomenal. I was nervous I wouldn’t be able to separate Meredith Grey with this new character, but I can do just that. I’m anticipating the rest of the season and hope to see this open new doors for Pompeo in the future.