United Kingdom, March 18 -- Ellen Pompeo's children make her "so mad" at times.

The 55-year-old actress - who is best known for starring as Meredith Grey in the hit medical drama 'Grey's Anatomy' - is mother to Stella, 15, Sienna, 10, and Eli, eight, with her husband Chris Ivery

and explained that she has to channel the emotion she feels when they are misbehaving into her work.

She told US TV show 'Extra': "I think all mothers have that intensity and that passion and love for children and also this sort of drive to want to be the best mother you can be. And what does that mean to different people? Everybody has their own version of what that is, and that's their truth.

"And so, I think just that intensity, to tap into that intensity t...