A bad reputation, canceled TV shows, and a permanent move to small-town USA. Katherine Heigl used to be one of the biggest stars on TV — but there's a reason you don't see much of her anymore.
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00:00A bad reputation, canceled TV shows, and a permanent move to small-town USA. Katherine
00:06Heigl used to be one of the biggest stars on TV, but there's a reason you don't see
00:10much of her anymore.
00:11In 2009, Katherine Heigl and husband Josh Kelly expanded their family by adopting 10-month-old
00:17Naylee from Korea. Heigl said in an interview with Red,
00:21"'About six months after meeting my now-husband, I was like, marriage and having a family are
00:25both really important to me. Starting a family with adoption is also really important to
00:29me. If those things don't speak to you, we should part ways. Luckily, he was like, I'm
00:33down with that."
00:34Heigl and Kelly have since grown their household by two more. In 2012, they adopted a newborn
00:39girl named Adelaide Marie Hope. Then, in 2017, Heigl gave birth to her first son, Joshua
00:44Bishop.
00:45And that love, that unconditional love, just sweeps over everything."
00:51When Grey's Anatomy debuted in 2005, over 16 million viewers were introduced to the
00:56medical team at Grey's Sloan Memorial, including Heigl's Dr. Izzy Stephens. Heigl appeared
01:01in 120 episodes before leaving the show in 2010. Her departure came in the middle of
01:06Season 6, leaving writers scrambling to concoct a last-minute storyline around the character.
01:11As a new parent, Heigl's priorities had drastically shifted. She no longer had a desire to work
01:16long days on set, which could sometimes stretch to 17 hours. All of it was taking a toll on
01:21her mental health.
01:22Things were put into perspective when Heigl went on family leave and got to experience
01:25normal life as a first-time mother. It was then that she realized she wanted out. She
01:30told The Daily Telegraph that she did inform the show's creator, Shonda Rhimes, of her
01:34impending departure, rather than spontaneously decide not to show up for work anymore. Heigl
01:39said,
01:40"...I waited at home until I was given the formal okay that I was off the show. The rumors
01:43that I refused to return were totally untrue."
01:48Leaving Grey's Anatomy wasn't the only thing that caused tension between Heigl and the
01:51showrunners. A year after winning an Emmy for her role on the series, Heigl declined
01:55to be nominated again in 2008. She said in a statement,
01:59"...I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination.
02:04I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given
02:07such materials."
02:08Heigl didn't expect any backlash from this, but she certainly got her share of it. Not
02:13only was she starting to be seen as difficult to work with, she also upset Shonda Rhimes.
02:18In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Rhimes said,
02:20"...on some level it's sung, and on some level I was not surprised when people say who they
02:24are and believe them."
02:25Plus, this wasn't the first time that Heigl was publicly critical of a project she worked
02:29on. The same year, on the heels of her success in the comedy Knocked Up, she critiqued the
02:33film's portrayal of women, telling Vanity Fair,
02:36"...it was a little sexist. It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight.
02:40And it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys."
02:45After stepping away from Grey's Anatomy, Heigl appeared in several lighthearted comedies,
02:49including 2010's Killers and 2011's New Year's Eve. In an interview with Showbiz Junkies,
02:54the actress shared details on her love for comedies and why she didn't see herself taking
02:58on more serious roles anytime soon. Heigl told the outlet,
03:02"...there's nothing like being on the set of a romantic comedy because everybody there
03:05is sort of there to have a fun experience and to create a fun experience for the audience,
03:09so it inevitably influences how you feel day to day."
03:13In 2014, Heigl added voiceover work to her resume with a role in The Nut Job. The animated
03:18family film focuses on an exiled squirrel who is trying to help his friend survive
03:23by stealing from a nut store. Heigl voices Andy, a fierce female squirrel. In an interview
03:28with AMC Theatres, Heigl said that her first experience in the world of animation was an
03:32enjoyable one. She went on to add that she would have happily watched the finished product
03:36of The Nut Job as a childless adult, but having her kids next to her made it more fun.
03:41"...now it feels more legitimate."
03:44When One for the Money came out in 2012, Heigl was adamant that she wanted to stick with
03:48comedies because her life was complicated enough. However, in 2014, a dramatic role
03:53came her way on the NBC series State of Affairs that she couldn't pass up. Heigl portrayed
03:58Charleston Tucker on the show, a CIA officer and daily briefer for President Constance
04:03Payton. In an interview with Today, Heigl said she appreciated how the show didn't make
04:07a big fuss over the fact that the president and daily briefer were women.
04:11"...they're there because they're exceptionally good at what they do."
04:14Unfortunately for Heigl, State of Affairs was canceled by NBC after one season due to
04:18low ratings.
04:21Following her serious stint in State of Affairs, Heigl continued to take on more challenging
04:25roles. For instance, in the 2017 drama Unforgettable, she played a jealous ex who is determined
04:30to ruin her former husband's new relationship. A hard pivot from the People, Please, or Jane
04:35in 2008's 27 Dresses, Heigl told Good Morning America that she loved the freedom that came
04:40with playing a character who only cares about herself.
04:42"...it is all about Tessa and what she wants."
04:45Still, Heigl stressed that Tessa isn't a one-dimensional villain. The actress told Film Is Now that
04:50she could feel some sympathy for Tessa, who is feeling intense heartbreak and fears ending
04:54up alone. Ultimately, Tessa is a complicated and damaged woman who is experiencing something
05:00relatable to the masses.
05:01"...it's just that she goes a little too far with it."
05:05The same year that Unforgettable was released, Heigl returned to television once more on
05:09the CBS drama Doubt. For Heigl, appearing in the show's 13 episodes was quite the challenge,
05:13as she was pregnant with her son, Joshua, during filming. In fact, production wrapped
05:17up only two weeks before she gave birth. Heigl told Access Hollywood,
05:21"...by that point, I was pretty tired. My feet were the size of, you know, cantaloupes.
05:26And I was trying to look not pregnant."
05:29Doubt was ultimately canceled by CBS due to low ratings.
05:33Following her lengthy stint on Grey's Anatomy, Heigl didn't have the best luck with her subsequent
05:38television projects. However, things turned around in 2018 when she joined the cast of
05:42Suits as the ruthless attorney Samantha Wheeler. Since Heigl was a longtime fan of Suits, she
05:47was nervous about appearing on the show, telling AT,
05:49"...my biggest fear was coming on and ruining my favorite show by being on it."
05:54According to Heigl, her journey to becoming Samantha was all by chance. During a meeting
05:58with Suits creator Aaron Korsh, he revealed that an eighth season of the hit show was
06:02being made.
06:03"...I was like, do you need anybody? Because I'm available."
06:05Though she initially thought she'd serve as a guest star on an episode or two, Korsh gave
06:09her an entire arc during Season 8.
06:12For two seasons, Heigl shared the screen with Sarah Chalk in the Netflix series Firefly
06:17Lane. The show chronicled the highs and lows of friendship throughout various stages of
06:21life and received rave reviews from audiences. In an interview with People, Heigl shared
06:25her thoughts on why the show resonated so strongly with the masses, saying,
06:29"...it's not some fairy tale version of female friendship, watching them love each other
06:33and struggle with each other, and then have all these fabulous memories and moments and
06:36time together. I think it speaks to all of us."
06:39While bringing their on-screen friendship to life, Heigl and Chalk formed a close bond
06:44of their own — something that Heigl said doesn't always happen on sets. She told Forbes,
06:48"...there's just something about these two women, this particular story, Sarah as a human
06:52being and my love for the characters."
06:55Over the years, Heigl didn't have the easiest time navigating Hollywood. Though she wanted
06:59to continue her career as an actress, she realized that living in Los Angeles simply
07:03wasn't for her. To escape from the hustle and bustle of the industry, she and her husband
07:07built a few homes in Utah, intending for them to be used as vacation getaways. However,
07:12as they spent more time enjoying small-town life, they decided to live there on a permanent
07:17basis.
07:18Heigl told Fox News,
07:19"...it's a smaller town. I know who your friends are, who you are spending time with. I know
07:23what's up at school. It's just easier to keep my finger on the poles."
07:26"...maybe I'm biased, but I really think there is no, like, more beautiful place in America."
07:33As the owner of seven dogs and three cats, Heigl is certainly an animal lover. In fact,
07:38she owns and operates the pet food nutrition brand Badlands Ranch.
07:41"...our mission was simple. Create the best, healthiest dog food we could."
07:46Along with the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation, Badlands Ranch also aims to shed light on
07:50how millions of healthy pets are euthanized annually in shelters across the country. Heigl
07:55told Today,
07:56"...the foundation and the food is all about trying to fund these programs to help this
08:00problem, which is solvable. It's a solvable problem. It's not about just how much you
08:04can donate. It's just about being aware and whatever small thing you can do to contribute
08:09to the solution."
08:10"...and it feels good to know there could be a solution."