Ellen Pompeo is reflecting on the past comments she received about her weight and body.
Pompeo recalled the "brutal" comments from tabloids about her body when she was a young actress in an exclusive interview with People that was published Wednesday.
"The tabloids would say horrible things. I just remember being so anxious on red carpets, and the comments about my weight and my body," the "Grey's Anatomy" star said. "I'm so glad, maybe, hopefully things have changed, because it was much, much more brutal 20 years ago."
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Pompeo added, "I was so skinny and I hated it and everyone thought I had an eating disorder."
"It was a whole situation with how skinny I was, and there was so much negative attention," she continued. "Girls today can be gorgeous and thin and thank God we're not allowed to comment on women's bodies, even though people do. But I just had so much anxiety and lacked self-esteem because people were so critical of my physicality."
Pompeo's career as an actress took off when she was cast as Dr. Meredith Grey in "Grey's Anatomy."
She starred on the show since its beginning in 2005 and left as a series regular in season 19. She has continued with the show as a producer and narrator.
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After gaining success as an actress in the industry over the years, Pompeo said empowering other women to speak up about inequities is something she is passionate about.
"I sit in a seat of enormous privilege," she said. "As a White woman, as a working actress, as a person who's super well-compensated. If people that sit with privilege can't use it to better the lives of others, you really don't deserve it."
Pompeo is slated to star in the upcoming limited Hulu series, "Good American Family," which is based on the true-crime story of Natalia Grace, a girl born with a rare form of dwarfism.
The series will premiere on March 19 with the first two episodes.
Disney is the parent company of Hulu, ABC News, and "Good Morning America."
