Katherine Heigl Talks ‘Difficult’ Label, ‘Grey’s’ With Ellen Pompeo

By Jon Blistein

Katherine Heigl pushed back on the way she was labeled as "difficult" as she reflected on her exit from Grey's Anatomy in a new Variety "Actors on Actors" conversation with friend and former co-star Ellen Pompeo.

Heigl, who starred as Dr. Izzie Stevens, infamously left Grey's in 2010 halfway through its sixth season. Tensions had been building for a couple of years, arguably reaching a peak when Heigl — who’d won an Emmy for her performance in 2007 — declined to make herself eligible the following year, saying she wasn't "given the material this season to warrant" a nomination.

Looking back on that time, Heigl acknowledged to Pompeo that, in some ways, she was "naive" in her handling of the situation — so much so that she didn't expect any kind of backlash.

"I got on my soapbox and I had some things to say, and I felt really passionate about this stuff," she said. "I felt so strongly that I also got a megaphone out on my soapbox. There was no part of me that imagined a bad reaction. I felt really justified in how I felt about it and where I was coming from. I’ve spent most of my life — I think most women do — being in that people-pleasing mode. It's really disconcerting when you feel like you have really displeased everybody. It was not my intention to do so, but I had some things to say, and I didn't think I was going to get such a strong reaction."

Heigl, who was in her late-20s when the Grey's drama was unfolding, went on to say it wasn't until she was well into her 30s that she was able to start "tuning out all the noise." With that came the ability to really start parsing the way she was labeled as "ungrateful" or "difficult" in public, and how she took those criticisms to heart.

"Because I was confused! I thought maybe I was," Heigl said. "I literally believed that version, and felt such shame for such a long time, and then had to go, "Wait. Who am I listening to? I’m not even listening to myself. I know who I am."

While Grey's Anatomy was a runaway success upon its debut — and remains a reliable ratings draw 19 seasons later — its early years were fraught, not only in relation to Heigl. Isaiah Washington was dismissed from the series during its third season after rumors that he used a homophobic slur on set. Furthermore, in a 2019 interview, Pompeo herself alluded to the "very bad behavior" and "really toxic work environment" that pervaded the Grey's set during its first 10 seasons.