Since it debuted in March 2005, the show has been a massive success, garnering a diehard fan base of millions of viewers, critical acclaim as well as numerous Emmy and Golden Globe awards. That medical dramas win in the ratings war is a given (ER, House, Nip/Tuck, etc) but Grey's Anatomy, with its quirky characters and sex-driven storylines, made for compelling viewing from the outset. Detractors have criticised it for its lack of realism pertaining to medical issues as well as the incessant bed-hopping of the hospital's staff but its fans can't get enough of it. For those who haven't caught the Grey's bug yet, here's a quick recap.

Pompeo is Dr Meredith Grey (the title is a pun on her name and the medical textbook Gray's Anatomy), daughter of an esteemed surgeon and now a surgical resident herself.

Her friends are fellow interns (and subsequent residents) Cristina Yang (played by Sandra Oh), Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigel) and George O'Malley (TR Knight), while surgeons Dr Preston Burke and Dr Derek Shepherd are played by Isaiah Washington and former '80s heartthrob Patrick Dempsey respectively. Ostensibly, Grey's Anatomy is about the everyday struggles of surgical residents but it's the relationship between Meredith and Dr Shepherd (nicknamed 'McDreamy') that has viewers hooked. Having started an affair with him the very night before she became an intern (and not knowing that he was a surgeon at the hospital) Meredith falls in love with him, only to receive a nasty surprise when his wife Addison comes to work at the hospital. As season three begins, Meredith is in the midst of a love triangle with Derek and a handsome vet called Finn ('McVet', played by Chris O'Donnell) and both men are awaiting her decision. Meanwhile Addison, Derek's wife, has discovered a pair of knickers in his tuxedo jacket, knows they're Meredith's and deals with the offending items accordinglyf You get the general idea.

As ever, when you've become immersed in a TV character, it's intriguing and not always satisfying to meet its portrayer in the flesh.

Two rumours frequently surface about Ellen Pompeo. The first is that she's a diva, with tabloids reporting that she has infuriated fellow cast and crew with her behaviour. Her co-stars have been quick to come to her defence ("She's one of the most beautifully spirited people that I know, " says Chandra Wilson, aka Dr Miranda Bailey, the 'Nazi') and in person Pompeo is pleasant, professional and warm, although the shutters immediately fall if she doesn't like the subject matter.

The other rumour that persists is that she suffers from an eating disorder. And yes, she is very, very slim but there's something about the way she joyfully skips to the cake stand in her London hotel room and tucks into scones that suggests she's not putting it on for show. After a long day of interview with the European press, Pompeo is a little tired. "But I'm feeling much better since these arrived, " she says indicating the scones. Reassuringly and unlike some of her Hollywood contemporaries, she looks her age . . . an extremely attractive 37-year-old but 37 nonetheless.

"You know, I don't think you can pay attention to it, " is her response to the matter of Hollywood's perennial fascination with appearances. "At the end of the day, it's all quite sillyf For people to focus so much on people's weight or people's appearance or what they're wearing or their hair. There are so many more serious issues going on in the world that people should be focusing on. It's absolutely silly to focus on Hollywood and what people are wearing and people's weight and what they're drinking and where they're driving.

So I try not to pay attention to it and pay attention to the important things that are going on in the world."

Before Grey's Anatomy, Pompeo wasn't exactly a struggling actor but nor was she a household name. After following that traditional and time-honoured route of waitressing, followed by a modelling stint, she appeared in some minor TV and film parts before moving to Los Angeles in 2001. Her big break was the 2002 film MoonlightMile, also starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Susan Sarandon, and she went on to star in Old Schoolwith Will Ferrell and Luke Wilson and Stephen Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can, as well as episodes of Law and Order and Friends. Now she commands $200,000 an episode and was nominated in the best actress category at the 2007 Golden Globes but she's adamant her life hasn't changed. "I'm just a lot more busy, " she says.

Pompeo is quick to refute any suggestion that she's similar to Meredith ("We're very, very different, " she says firmly) but she does appreciate certain qualities about her character. "I like that she's flawed. Because all human beings are flawed and it makes sense to portray a human being as she really is . . . or as people really are . . . and people's expectations of each other are so high and everybody expects everyone to be perfect. People don't really accept when people aren't really the way they want them to be, " she says.

Does she think that Meredith, struggling to balance work, messy relationships and life in general, is an 'everywoman' and therein lies some of her appeal? Pompeo demurs in that slight Boston accent. "I don't know about 'everywoman'. I don't know what that means really. Every woman has a different set of struggles and a different set of accomplishments or goals."

And is she close to the rest of the cast? "Yes, very close to them. I spend a lot of time with them . . . we have no choice really, " she laughs. One person who is no longer part of Grey's Anatomy's family bosom is Isaiah Washington (Dr Preston Burke). He won't be returning for season four following a very high-profile controversy, where during an on-set spat with Patrick Dempsey, Washington allegedly called another member of the cast, TR Knight a "faggot" (see 'Scalpels At Dawn' on next page). Unsurprisingly, Pompeo will not be drawn on the matter. "I'm not going to comment on Isaiah. Out of respect. Thank you. It's Isaiah's business and it's TR's business but it's really none of my business to comment." But we had to ask. Pompeo smiles in response.

Her own personal life is a far remove from Meredith Grey's tangled affairs. She's engaged to a music producer, Christopher Ivery, who she's been dating since 2003, although a wedding date has yet to be set.

The couple were introduced by friends at a Whole Foods Market (a super trendy chain of stores selling organic and natural foods) although the American press had a field day when Star Magazine obtained court records showing that Ivery had 13 criminal convictions, including cocaine trafficking and possession, and had served three jail sentences. Her spokesperson told StarMagazine that Pompeo had known about his record and that "it was a long time ago".

Of her future husband, Pompeo says they come from the same town and had known of each other for a long time but they never met until Ivery moved to Los Angeles. "There's a real familiarity there with him and I've known about him for a very long time and know many of his friends. We have a strong bond. It's a very 'unHollywood' relationship, Christopher's and my relationship, " she says.

If she wasn't an actor, she thinks she would be designing houses. When she's not working she likes to watch movies and to cook. What does she like to cook? "Oh anything." And acting-wise, whom does she admire or whom would she like to work with? "There's a tonne of actors I admire. I won't say whom I'd like to work with as I don't want to jinx myself, " she laughs. "But there are so many fantastic actors now."

She will however cite Clive Owen, Daniel Craig, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg and Forrest Whitaker. "There's an endless amount of talent in Hollywood."

And with that, her hovering assistant calls time and the appointment with Dr Grey is finished, without even getting to the 'What it's like snogging McDreamy and what's going to happen with you two?' question. Here's guessing that Pompeo wouldn't be particularly forthcoming on the matter anyway.

But Meredith will, so you'll have to keep watching Grey's Anatomy for those particular updates.

See 'Scalpels at Dawn' on next page for the controversy that has engulfed the show Series Three of 'Grey's Anatomy' begins Tuesday, 24 July at 9.30pm on RTE Two