Katherine Heigl and Omar Epps present Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special and Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special (Photo by Jason Merritt)
Gallery of Katherine Heigl
2006
Los Angeles, CA, United States
Katherine Heigl during An Evening with "Grey's Anatomy" at Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles, CA, United States. (Photo by V Jackman)
Gallery of Katherine Heigl
2010
Los Angeles, California, USA
Katherine Heigl attends the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation's Compassion Revolution press conference on September 23, 2010, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt)
Gallery of Katherine Heigl
2012
27 Av. des Champs-Élysées, 75008 Paris, France
Katherine Heigl attends the Paris Premiere of "One For The Money" film at Cinema Gaumont Marignan on January 31, 2012, in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain)
Gallery of Katherine Heigl
2014
9876 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, USA
Katherine Heigl poses for a portrait during the NBCUniversal Press Tour at the Beverly Hilton on July 13, 2014, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk)
Gallery of Katherine Heigl
2014
777 Chick Hearn Ct, Los Angeles, CA 90015, USA
Katherine Heigl attends the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on August 25, 2014, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt)
Gallery of Katherine Heigl
2014
9876 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, USA
Katherine Heigl arrives for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Big Bash at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on October 24, 2014, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Gabriel Olsen)
Gallery of Katherine Heigl
2014
6215 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028, USA
Katherine Heigl attends "TrevorLIVE LA" Honoring Robert Greenblatt, Yahoo and Skylar Kergil for The Trevor Project at Hollywood Palladium on December 7, 2014, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt)
Gallery of Katherine Heigl
2015
9876 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, USA
Katherine Heigl attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 11, 2015, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt)
Gallery of Katherine Heigl
2015
9876 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, USA
Katherine Heigl attends the 16th Annual Warner Bros. and InStyle Post-Golden Globe Party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 11, 2015, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff)
Gallery of Katherine Heigl
2015
7920 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90046, USA
Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley attend the Premiere of IFC's 'Jenny's Wedding' at the 2015 Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival at Director's Guild Of America on July 10, 2015, in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by JB Lacroix)
Gallery of Katherine Heigl
2015
29045 Agoura Rd, Agoura Hills, CA 91301, USA
Katherine Heigl holds a rescue puppy at a screening and Q&A for 'Saved In America' at Regency Theatres on August 15, 2015, in Agoura Hills, California. (Photo by Tibrina Hobson)
Gallery of Katherine Heigl
2015
Katherine Heigl
Gallery of Katherine Heigl
2016
Katherine Heigl
Gallery of Katherine Heigl
2017
Katherine Heigl is a guest on Jenny McCarthy's "Inner Circle" Series On Her SiriusXM Show "The Jenny McCarthy Show" (Photo by Cindy Ord)
Gallery of Katherine Heigl
2017
Los Angeles, California, USA
Katherine Heigl is seen on July 11, 2017, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by BG005)
Gallery of Katherine Heigl
2018
45 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10111, USA
Katherine Heigl attends the 2018 NBCUniversal Upfront Presentation at Rockefeller Center on May 14, 2018, in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill)
Gallery of Katherine Heigl
5000 Kahala Ave, Honolulu, HI 96816, USA
Katherine Heigl during the bodog net Salute to the Troops Charity Event Benefitting Military Charity Fisher House Foundation - Poker Tournament at Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. (Photo by M. Caulfield)
Gallery of Katherine Heigl
New York City, NY, USA
Katherine Heigl is seen on July 12, 2018, in New York City. (Photo by MediaPunch)
Achievements
Membership
Awards
Screen Actors Guild Award
2007
Katherine Heigl, winner of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
Emmy Award
2007
665 W Jefferson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
Katherine Heigl poses in the press room with her Emmy during the 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on September 16, 2007, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Dan MacMedan)
Young Hollywood Award
2007
Katherine Heigl accepts the Superstar of Tomorrow award (Photo by M. Phillips)
People's Choice Award
2009
665 W Jefferson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
Katherine Heigl accepts the Favorite Comedy Movie award at the 35th Annual People's Choice Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium on January 7, 2009, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz)
Katherine Heigl and Omar Epps present Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special and Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special (Photo by Jason Merritt)
Katherine Heigl poses in the press room with her Emmy during the 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on September 16, 2007, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Dan MacMedan)
Katherine Heigl accepts the Favorite Comedy Movie award at the 35th Annual People's Choice Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium on January 7, 2009, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz)
Katherine Heigl attends the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation's Compassion Revolution press conference on September 23, 2010, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt)
Katherine Heigl attends the Paris Premiere of "One For The Money" film at Cinema Gaumont Marignan on January 31, 2012, in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain)
Katherine Heigl poses for a portrait during the NBCUniversal Press Tour at the Beverly Hilton on July 13, 2014, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk)
Katherine Heigl attends the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on August 25, 2014, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt)
Katherine Heigl arrives for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Big Bash at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on October 24, 2014, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Gabriel Olsen)
Katherine Heigl attends "TrevorLIVE LA" Honoring Robert Greenblatt, Yahoo and Skylar Kergil for The Trevor Project at Hollywood Palladium on December 7, 2014, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt)
Katherine Heigl attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 11, 2015, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt)
Katherine Heigl attends the 16th Annual Warner Bros. and InStyle Post-Golden Globe Party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 11, 2015, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff)
Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley attend the Premiere of IFC's 'Jenny's Wedding' at the 2015 Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival at Director's Guild Of America on July 10, 2015, in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by JB Lacroix)
Katherine Heigl holds a rescue puppy at a screening and Q&A for 'Saved In America' at Regency Theatres on August 15, 2015, in Agoura Hills, California. (Photo by Tibrina Hobson)
Katherine Heigl during the bodog net Salute to the Troops Charity Event Benefitting Military Charity Fisher House Foundation - Poker Tournament at Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. (Photo by M. Caulfield)
(Set in 1961, this bittersweet coming-of-age story about s...)
Set in 1961, this bittersweet coming-of-age story about special friendships, first love and a long summer night changes the lives of three people forever.
(Steven Soderbergh creates one of the most vivid depiction...)
Steven Soderbergh creates one of the most vivid depictions of the Depression ever captured on film in this poignant story of a 12-year old St. Louis boy (Jesse Bradford) who must fend for himself when his mother is sent to a sanitarium and his father leaves to work as a traveling salesman.
(Seagal reprises the role of Casey Ryback, the mild-manner...)
Seagal reprises the role of Casey Ryback, the mild-mannered cook and resourceful ex-Navy SEAL. This time, the danger is on the rails instead of at sea, and the stakes are even higher.
(In this cult classic, younger sister Hayley Wheaton (Dani...)
In this cult classic, younger sister Hayley Wheaton (Danielle Harris) wishes to switch places with her popular older sister Alexia (Katherine Heigl) and the two bickering siblings awaken to find the wish has come true.
(Chucky's doll body is rescued by his fiance and he comes ...)
Chucky's doll body is rescued by his fiance and he comes back to life. For their homicidal honeymoon, the demonic newlyweds hit the road, leaving a trail of murder and mayhem behind them!
(When a blackout knocks out an elevator in a college girl'...)
When a blackout knocks out an elevator in a college girl's dorm, Matthew and a mystery girl connect carnally and emotionally but he's left in the dark as to her true identity. He's got 100 suspects, and a slew of hilarious schemes to worm his way into the hearts and panty drawers of each and every one.
(A young woman's husband dies shortly after they arrive to...)
A young woman's husband dies shortly after they arrive to start a new life on the frontier, and with no alternatives, she agrees to spend the winter with a widower.
(Young Belinda Tyler follows her dream to become a nurse d...)
Young Belinda Tyler follows her dream to become a nurse despite most people opposing her choice, including the town doctor and a new potential beau visiting from New York.
(When a girl lands the perfect job and moves up the corpor...)
When a girl lands the perfect job and moves up the corporate ladder, she starts to really enjoy the perks of success. she must find a way to balance love and her career or risk it all.
(Zyzzyx Rd is a suspenseful and twist-filled thriller whic...)
Zyzzyx Rd is a suspenseful and twist-filled thriller which captures the decisions that an ordinary man must make when he is faced with extraordinary, frightening and deadly circumstances.
(There's always something strange brewing at the Black Cat...)
There's always something strange brewing at the Black Cat Cafe. During one lunchtime at this offbeat coffee house, the relationships of the quirky staff and several couples are turned upside down by the sudden revelations of supremely embarrassing secrets relating to their sexual behavior... and misbehavior.
(The writer and director of The 40-Year-Old Virgin deliver...)
The writer and director of The 40-Year-Old Virgin delivers an outrageous hit comedy that Peter Travers of Rolling Stone calls "hilarious in ways you have to see to believe!"
(From the screenwriter of The Devil Wears Prada, 27 Dresse...)
From the screenwriter of The Devil Wears Prada, 27 Dresses centers on Jane, an idealistic, romantic and completely selfless woman... a perennial bridal attendant whose own happy ending is nowhere in sight. But when younger sister Tess captures the heart of Jane's boss - with whom she is secretly in love - Jane begins to reexamine her "always-a-bridesmaid..." lifestyle.
(A romantically challenged morning show producer (Katherin...)
A romantically challenged morning show producer (Katherine Heigl) is reluctantly embroiled in a series of outrageous tests by her chauvinistic correspondent (Gerard Butler) to prove his theories on relationships and help her find love. His clever ploys, however, lead to an unexpected result.
(When a baby girl's godparents become all she has left in ...)
When a baby girl's godparents become all she has left in the world, they are forced to set aside their differences and find a way to raise her together.
"New Year's Eve" celebrates love, hope, forgiveness, second chances and fresh starts, with intertwining stories told amidst the pulse and promise of New York City.
(To the amusement of their adult children and friends, lon...)
To the amusement of their adult children and friends, long-divorced couple Don and Ellie Griffin (De Niro and Keaton) are once again forced to play the happy couple for the sake of their adopted son's wedding.
(An incorrigibly self-serving and exiled squirrel finds hi...)
An incorrigibly self-serving and exiled squirrel finds himself helping his former park brethren survive by raiding a nut store, which happens to be nearby a bank robbery.
(Ryan, a modern-day train hopper fighting to be a successf...)
Ryan, a modern-day train hopper fighting to be a successful musician, and Jackie, a single mom battling to maintain custody of her daughter, defy their circumstances by coming together in a relationship that may change each other's lives forever.
(Mona and Don's seemingly perfect suburban bliss is disrup...)
Mona and Don's seemingly perfect suburban bliss is disrupted by a sexy extortionist and Mona will stop at nothing, including killing the competition, to keep her little slice of heaven.
(Tessa Connover (Katherine Heigl) is barely coping with th...)
Tessa Connover (Katherine Heigl) is barely coping with the end of her marriage when her ex husband becomes happily engaged. But Tessa's jealousy soon takes a pathological turn.
(Surly (Will Arnett) the squirrel and his friends spring i...)
Surly (Will Arnett) the squirrel and his friends spring into action to save their home, Liberty Park, when the evil mayor plans to destroy it to build an amusement park.
("I'm Liz Parker and five days ago I died. After that, thi...)
"I'm Liz Parker and five days ago I died. After that, things got really weird." So begins a new life for Liz and her friend Maria after they discover that three of their classmates at Roswell High aren't exactly from "around here".
(Meet Meredith Grey, a brilliant first-year surgical inter...)
Meet Meredith Grey, a brilliant first-year surgical intern at Seattle Grace Hospital. Together with her fellow residents-in-training, Meredith navigates her way through the daily traumas and social land mines of life inside the hospital and out in the real world.
(Each day the president is faced with dozens of life-and-d...)
Each day the president is faced with dozens of life-and-death decisions, and to prioritize the biggest international crises facing the country, one top CIA analyst - Charleston Tucker - assembles the President's Daily Briefing (PDB). This list of the most vital security issues facing the nation brings with it moral and political judgment calls.
(Doubt stars Katherine Heigl as Sadie Ellis, a brilliant a...)
Doubt stars Katherine Heigl as Sadie Ellis, a brilliant attorney at a boutique firm who starts to fall for her charismatic client, Billy Brennan, an altruistic pediatric surgeon recently accused of murdering his girlfriend 24 years ago.
("Suits" centers on a fast-paced Manhattan corporate law f...)
"Suits" centers on a fast-paced Manhattan corporate law firm led by legendary lawyer Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), his intelligent but delicate partner, Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman), and secretary-turned-COO Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty).
Katherine Heigl is an American actress and producer. She is best known for her role as Dr. Isobel "Izzie" Stevens on ABC's medical drama Grey's Anatomy for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
Background
Ethnicity:
Heigl's father is of one half Irish, one quarter German, and one quarter Swiss-German, descent. Her mother is of German ancestry.
Katherine Marie Heigl was born on November 24, 1978, in Washington, D.C., the United States in Columbia Hospital for Women, to financial executive Paul Heigl and his personal manager wife Nancy, Katherine was the youngest of four children. Her siblings are Meg, Jason, and Holt. She spent most of her childhood in Connecticut, where the family had settled. It was there that tragedy struck in 1986 when her older brother Jason died after being involved in a car accident. When doctors determined he was brain-dead, the family made the difficult decision to donate his organs. Not only did this painful chapter give Katherine a greater perspective and appreciation for life, but it motivated her to use her celebrity to promote the importance of organ donation. In the wake of his loss, the Heigl family turned to the Mormon Church.
Education
Katherine Heigl attended Saxe Middle School and New Canaan High School, balancing her academic studies with work on films and modeling, which she undertook during holidays, vacations and weekends. As many of the films were shot during the school year, Heigl often found herself away from classes for three months at a time and would be tutored on set. The balance between school and work was a difficult lesson for her to learn. Whilst she yearned to be a normal teenager and fit in with the high school crowd, her busy schedule made it almost impossible. In fact, the situation bothered her enough that during her sophomore year she kept her career on hold so that she could spend more time at school. Heigl moved to Los Angeles in 1997 and dropped out after her sophomore year of high school, but soon completed the courses she required to graduate.
Katherine Heigl started her career as a child model with Wilhelmina Models before turning her attention to acting. In 1988, an aunt (Elaine Heigl), visited the family in New Canaan and took a number of photographs of her niece, then aged 9 - in series of poses to advertise a hair care product that she had invented. Upon returning home to New York and with permission from Katherine's parents, she sent the images to a number of modeling agencies. Katherine's looks were an immediate hit and within a few weeks, she had been signed to the renowned international modeling agency Wilhelmina.
Heigl made her debut in a magazine advertisement almost immediately and was soon regularly advertising products for Sears and Lord & Taylor catalogs. An inaugural television appearance in a national commercial for Cheerios breakfast cereal followed and she auditioned for a number of shows including As The World Turns, a sitcom about a mother and daughter which starred Cindy Williams.
After a number of commercials, modeling assignments, and movie auditions, an eleven-year-old Katherine was cast in her first feature, That Night, which also starred Juliette Lewis, C. Thomas Howell, and Eliza Dushku. In 1993, Heigl appeared as Christina Sebastian in Steven Soderbergh's critically acclaimed Depression-era drama King Of The Hill, before landing the leading role of rebellious teenager Nicole alongside Gérard Dépardieu's protective father in My Father The Hero.
In 1995, Katherine played opposite Steven Seagal in the role of Sarah Ryback in Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, which represented her first action genre film. The film grossed over $100 million at the box office worldwide.
In 1996, Katherine took the lead role of Alexia Wheaton in Wish Upon a Star. The film follows the lives of two sisters who unknowingly make the same wish to trade places while gazing upon a falling star. When the wish becomes true the events that follow soon descend into chaos.
Stepping back in time to the Golden Age of Hollywood for her role in 1997's Stand-Ins, Heigl took the part of Taffy Entwhistle - Rita Hayworth's stand-in, in an independent movie about a group of women with the dream of becoming famous, who find themselves working as substitutes to the glamorous stars of the era.
The following year, Katherine branched into the world of William Shakespeare, co-starring with Peter Fonda in a re-working of the classic play The Tempest. Updated with an American Civil War theme, the 1998 NBC television film saw her take on the role of Miranda Prosper, a young woman torn between the love for her father and that of a Union soldier.
Leading roles as Shannon Griffin in Bug Buster, where she joined George Takei, James Doohan, and Randy Quaid in a battle against mutant insects and as Jade in Bride of Chucky, represented the first venture into the horror genre for Katherine. While both films could be described as tongue-in-cheek despite their gory emphases, Bride of Chucky was the better received, both critically and commercially. Playing opposite Brad Dourif as the infamous plastic doll Chucky and his girlfriend Tiffany played by Jennifer Tilly, Heigl's teenage newlywed character soon becomes an unwitting accomplice to the evil duo's plans to regain human form.
In 1999, Katherine made the decision to venture into the world of series television when she accepted the role of the haughty yet vulnerable Isabel Evans on Roswell, a show which blended teen angst with sci-fi drama. In the series, created by Jason Katims, Isabel, her brother Max and their friend Michael are aliens passing as humans, living in Roswell, New Mexico. Desperate to hide their secret from government agencies, the people of Roswell and even their own adopted families, the trio come to realize that they must learn to trust their human friends in order to survive.
Roswell premiered on October 6th, 1999 and ran for three seasons, which included a switch of the network from The WB to UPN for the show's final year. The last episode aired on May 14th, 2002.
In the three years, Roswell was in production, Heigl also appeared in several films, shooting her scenes during the short breaks in the busy yearly television schedule. 100 Girls, an independent film released in 2000, told the story of a college freshman and his efforts to find the identity of a mystery dream girl whom he meets in an elevator during a black-out. Katherine had a cameo role in the movie as Arlene, the Competitive Tomboy.
Valentine, a horror film starring David Boreanaz and Denise Richards, was released in theatres on February 2nd, 2001. Based upon the 1996 novel by Tom Savage, Katherine played Shelley, a medical student who meets a sudden demise. The screenplay for the picture was written by Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts, who also worked with Heigl on Roswell, writing several episodes of the show in the second and third seasons.
In the spring of 2001, Katherine was cast in Ground Zero a two-hour, original television thriller scheduled to be broadcast that fall on NBC. She played a brilliant and politically concerned college student, who builds a nuclear device to illustrate the need for change in national priorities. When she is betrayed by a fellow student, the bomb ends up in the hands of a group of terrorists and it is a race against time to prevent the destruction of San Francisco. Unfortunately, the telefilm, directed by Eric Laneuville, written by Tom Vaughan, and based on the bestseller, The Seventh Power, by James Mills, was shelved when the storyline was deemed to be too close to the terrible events of September 11, 2001.
Ground Zero re-surfaced in 2003 under the new title of Critical Assembly. The film premiered on NBC on July 12th almost two years after the planned original release date. It was not the only disappointment of 2001 for Katherine. College-based feature, Sorority Rule, the directorial debut of actress Ileana Douglas, in which Heigl was to star alongside Gretchen Mol, Amy Smart, and Selma Blair was canceled due to a lack of funding.
Following the cancellation of Roswell in the spring of 2002, Heigl continued to work prolifically on a wide variety of projects, including an appearance on UPN's update of the classic television series, The Twilight Zone. The episode, entitled Cradle of Darkness, featured Katherine in the role of Andrea Collins, a woman who goes back in time in an attempt to kill one of the most notorious figures in history. She also completed another movie, Descendant, a psychological thriller inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. The film tells the story of a young novelist tormented by his family's history and haunted by the specter of his long-dead, more famous ancestor. When he meets and falls in love with Katherine's character, Ann Hedgerow, a distant relative of his ancestor, her friends and family begin to disappear mysteriously. Descendant was released to the home entertainment market in June 2003.
In the ABC/Touchstone film Romy & Michele: Behind The Velvet Rope, Katherine was cast in the lead role of Romy White. The telepic, which followed two ditzy best friends who head to Hollywood after graduating from high school, was a prequel to the feature film - Romy & Michele's High School Reunion, which starred Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow. Production wrapped towards the end of 2002 and the project was scheduled to air in 2003 under the new title of Romy & Michele: In The Beginning. However, the film took much longer to debut on the small screen than expected, with ABC Family not broadcasting it until May 30th, 2005.
Love Comes Softly, a telefilm for Hallmark Entertainment, saw Heigl portray Marty Claridge, a young, pregnant newlywed traveling west in the mid-19th century, who has to deal with both tragedy and the challenges of a new life. Based on the popular series of books by Janette Oke, it aired on cable's Hallmark Channel on April 13th, 2003 and was received by the largest audience in the station's history. The cast and production were also honored at the 2003 Character and Morality in Entertainment Awards for their work.
In early 2003, Katherine returned to the horror genre with Evil Never Dies, a modern-day variation on the Frankenstein story which co-starred Thomas Gibson as a police officer who discovers that the executed murderer of his wife is being brought back to life as part of a professor's sordid experiment. Heigl played the role of the professor's assistant, whose motives are not as clear-cut as they first appear. The movie was shot in Melbourne, Australia, and broadcast on June 1st, 2003 as TBS Superstation Movie Of The Week.
Katherine continued her worldwide travels when she was cast as Isabella Linton in MTV's contemporary take on Emily Bronte's classic novel Wuthering Heights. Set along the Mendocino coastline but filmed in Puerto Rico, the movie, written by Max Enscoe and Annie DeYoung, portrayed a modern vision of the tragic story of revenge and romantic love between the offspring of the Earnshaws, who live at Wuthering Heights, and their genteel, refined neighbors the Lintons.
Despite this busy schedule, Katherine also signed up for the pilot presentation of a new television show for UPN. Entitled Vegas Dick, the program focused on a former con man, played by Vincent Ventresca, who becomes an in-house casino detective as a reward for rescuing the owner's daughter from being kidnapped. Heigl played the daughter, who is also the casino manager and boss of the newly employed detective. However, the pilot never aired and the show was not picked up by UPN for the 2003 / 2004 season.
In October 2003, Heigl was cast opposite Johnny Knoxville, as the female lead in Fox Searchlight Pictures' comedy The Ringer. Shot in Austin, Texas and directed by Barry Blaustein, the Farrelly brothers' comedy saw Katherine portray Lynn, a beautiful Special Olympics volunteer and the love interest of Knoxville's character. The movie was released on December 23rd, 2005 and performed respectably at the box office grossing over $35 million domestically. This success was despite some initial concerns in the press about the premise of the project which revolved around Johnny Knoxville's character attempting to rig the Special Olympics by pretending to be intellectually challenged.
Reprising her role as Marty Claridge, Heigl appeared in the 2004 telefilm, Love's Enduring Promise, the second novel in the Janet Oke series and Hallmark's sequel to Love Comes Softly. Debuting on the 20th of November, the film focused on the relationship between Marty's stepdaughter Missie played by January Jones and two suitors vying for her attention.
On March 10th, 2004, production began on a pilot medical drama for ABC based on the personal and professional lives of five surgical interns and their supervisors at a Seattle hospital. The pilot, which was given numerous titles including Under The Knife and Surgeons, was eventually assigned the name Grey's Anatomy. Katherine was cast as Dr. Isobel Izzie Stevens, a small-town girl who grows up in poverty and in spite of paying for her medical career by modeling struggles with her self-esteem.
During the summer of 2004, while she waited for ABC to decide upon the fate of Grey's Anatomy, Katherine accepted the lead role in a low budget independent feature called Side Effects. Based on the director and writer Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau's own experiences as a sales representative in the prescription drugs business, Side Effects revealed the journey of Karly Hert, a young woman struggling with love, ethics and a discontented career in the pharmaceutical industry. The movie premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival on March 12th, 2005 and made a limited theatrical debut on September 9th of the same year. Heigl also served as an executive producer on the picture.
Announced in October 2004 and cast alongside Tom Sizemore and Leo Grillo, Katherine was presented with the challenging task of portraying two very different characters within the same role, when she played Marissa in the unusually titled Zyzzyx Rd.. When Marissa's enraged boyfriend Joey catches her having a one-night stand with Grant, a married middle-aged accountant, a fight breaks out and he is killed. Faced with the harsh reality of betrayal and murder, Grant and Marissa hatch a plan to drive the corpse to an isolated road in the desert and bury it. However, when they open the trunk of the car to dispose of the body it has mysteriously vanished and mayhem soon erupts. The film was released internationally in 2006 for the television and home entertainment markets.
Selected by the studio as a series presentation, Grey's Anatomy finally debuted with a mid-season premiere on March 27th, 2005, almost a year after the original episode had been made. Originally scheduled for a four week run in the Boston Legal post-Desperate Housewives Sunday night slot on ABC, the show drew such huge audiences that the station extended the run to 9 episodes - the full first season.
ABC subsequently ordered 24 episodes for the second season of the medical drama based on the strength of the first - which was ranked as the highest-rated midseason show since electronic ratings began.
Cast as Laura alongside Mena Suvari and Marsha Thomason, the John Cosgrove directed comedy Caffeine represented another independent movie project for Katherine. The film, which revolved around a London café and a group of people who each had intriguing stories to tell, required Heigl to adopt an English accent. It was a daunting experience for her, particularly as she had very little time to prepare for the role. Caffeine premiered on the film festival circuit in 2006 before receiving a limited theatrical run in March 2007.
Season two of Grey's Anatomy premiered on September 25th, 2005 to a huge audience. Having dominated the ratings, the show was given a further boost when it was announced that a special episode would air in the prestigious time slot following Superbowl XL on February 5th, 2006. The Superbowl episode was watched by 38 million viewers and cemented Grey's Anatomy's place as one of the most popular programs on television. Domestic success was followed by international recognition as the show was broadcast around the world.
Cast as up-and-coming entertainment journalist Allison Scott in writer/director Judd Apatow's film Knocked Up, Katherine took the lead female role in the comedy about a one-night stand with unexpected consequences.
Shot in California during the summer 2006 hiatus between the seasons of Grey's Anatomy, the movie, which co-starred Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann, was released to both critical and commercial acclaim. It premiered in June 2007 and grossed $149m at the domestic box office and over $200m worldwide. In conjunction with the continued national and international success of Grey's Anatomy, Knocked Up helped to establish Heigl as a leading actress and household name in both film and television.
In January 2008, Heigl starred with James Marsden in the film 27 Dresses, for which she received $6 million USD. There was some speculation that Heigl might be leaving Grey's Anatomy after the end of the 2008-2009 season. This speculation revolved around her refusal to submit her name for Emmy consideration and the time she had devoted to producing a film version of Carolyn Jessop's book Escape.
Heigl starred with Gerard Butler in The Ugly Truth (2009). The film was made on a budget of $38 million and earned $205 million at the worldwide box office. In June 2010, Heigl starred in the Lionsgate comedy-thriller Killers, with Ashton Kutcher. She next starred in and produced the big-screen drama Life As We Know It, directed by Greg Berlanti, which revolved around a woman and a man whose respective best friends die in a car accident. Following the deaths, they begin to share in caring for their late friends' orphaned daughter. Heigl received $12 million for both films.
Speculation as to whether Heigl would leave Grey's Anatomy persisted through most of season six. On March 11, 2010, Heigl reportedly did not show up for work on the show, and Heigl and series creator Shonda Rhimes subsequently reached an agreement to immediately release Heigl from her contract. As a result, Heigl's appearance on the January 21 episode of Grey's Anatomy was her final appearance of that season and, thus far, in the series. Heigl said that she left the show to focus not on her film career, but on her family.
In 2011, Heigl appeared in the ensemble romantic comedy New Year's Eve, directed by Garry Marshall. Despite being a commercial success, grossing over $142 million worldwide, the film received generally negative reviews. Heigl next had the lead role in One for the Money (2012). Based on a series of novels by Janet Evanovich, the film's lead character is Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter working for a bonding company. The film was a financial failure, grossing just over $36 million worldwide against its production budget of $40 million.
In 2013, she appeared alongside Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton and Susan Sarandon in The Big Wedding, a comedy about an estranged family reuniting for a ceremony. A very poor critical and commercial reception greeted the film upon its release - it holds a 7% rating on film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and only made US$7.5 million in its opening weekend - and for her role, Heigl was nominated for Worst Supporting Actress at the 34th Golden Raspberry Awards. In June 2013, she began appearing in a television commercial for Vicks' ZzzQuil.
In November 2012, Heigl was cast as the voice of a squirrel, Andie, in the animated film The Nut Job, which was released on January 17, 2014. Heigl starred in the romantic drama Jackie & Ryan (2014), opposite Ben Barnes, portraying a recent single mom battling to hold onto her daughter and the love interest of a modern-day train hopper. The film was released in a limited release and through video on demand by Entertainment One in the United States.
She next starred as a rejected and jealous housewife in the dark comedy Home Sweet Hell (2015). The film received largely negative reviews.
Heigl returned to television in the NBC drama series State of Affairs, about a CIA attache. The show premiered in 2015, to largely negative reviews. It was canceled after one season due to a lackluster viewership. In 2017, Heigl replaced KaDee Strickland in the lead role of Sadie Ellis, in the CBS legal drama Doubt. However, as with State of Affairs, the show premiered to what was described as "tepid" ratings, and CBS announced its cancellation after just two episodes.
She starred opposite Rosario Dawson and Geoff Stults in the erotic thriller Unforgettable (2017), portraying a divorcée who begins to torment the new fiancée of her ex-husband. The film was her first wide release in three years; it garnered mediocre reviews. She reprised the voice-over role of Andie, also as Surly's girlfriend in the animated sequel The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature, which was released theatrically on August 11, 2017. In 2018, Heigl joined the cast of the USA Network legal drama series Suits where she would play the role of Samantha Wheeler, a new partner at the fictional law firm of Zane Specter Litt.
("I'm Liz Parker and five days ago I died. After that, thi...)
1999
Religion
Heigl herself had a strict Mormon upbringing and was not allowed to date until she was 16. Her father a Lutheran and mother a Catholic, converted to Mormonism after her brother's death, finding comfort and answers in the tenets of the faith. Although Katherine no longer practices, she still has great affection for Mormon religion and theology: "I am really supportive of the Mormon Church and so profoundly grateful for the childhood I had. It's hard work to grow and change and be honest with yourself about your mistakes, and I think the Mormons handle that beautifully. The faith I grew up with has influenced every decision I've made in my life - well, except for the bad ones!"
Politics
When Heigl was asked by paparazzi to comment on the 2008 presidential elections, she said: "I don’t do politics. It’s not my forum, man, you know? I get annoyed." When pressed again by paparazzi, she begrudgingly admitted that she was an Obama supporter and asked: “Isn’t it obvious?”
Views
Heigl has worked with Best Friends Animal Society on several projects, including their Pup My Ride program. The program transports small dogs from high-kill animal shelters to other parts of the US where there is a higher demand for such dogs. She gave a grant to Best Friends to fund a year of the program. Heigl and her mother, Nancy, started Heigl's Hounds of Hope, which operates as part of the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation.
The Foundation was created in honor of Heigl's brother, who was killed in a car accident in 1986 at the age of fifteen. Heigl's Hounds of Hope rescues larger dogs with behavior problems from shelters with a high kill rate. It rehabilitates them through training and other adjustments to make them suitable for re-homing. As of 2014, Heigl has eight dogs of her own.
In 2010, Heigl was honored with the "Presidential Service Award" by ASPCA for her work and dedication to animal welfare. In 2011, Heigl launched the "I Hate Balls" Campaign, focused on promoting spay/neuter of pets, to help save the lives of millions of companion animals. The initiative features a Public Service Announcement starring Heigl and produced by Funny or Die. In 2012, on behalf of PETA, she signed a letter to members of the Utah legislature, urging them to reject a law that would make undercover filming in factory farms a criminal offense.
In the same year, Heigl was honored by "Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI)" for her dedication and commitment to adoption, and by the American Cancer Society for her work in helping to amplify the awareness of cancer-related issues through her public support of her mother's journey with the disease.
Heigl is a strong proponent of organ donation, working as a spokesperson for Donate Life America. Heigl was seven years old when her older brother Jason died. Heigl's family chose to donate Jason's organs to people needing organ transplants. Heigl was inspired by these events to later work as an activist for organ donation.
Quotations:
"I'm grateful people think I'm beautiful or think I'm sexy, and I suppose it's better than the alternative, but I do try to fight it a bit so it's not all people see me as. And I'd love to one day be in a position where I could choose a role to showcase my creativity versus just my bra size."
"I pride myself on being kind. But that's not to say there aren't moments when I'm a diva. Everybody has bad moments."
"I love changing my look. I would love, love, love to cut all my hair off into a really short, punky haircut."
"I think people don't expect a lot from me. I'm trying to think at what age I noticed it was more about how I looked and less about what I do, but to me, that was never the interesting part about me. I had nothing to do with my looks."
Personality
Heigl has been a heavy smoker for many years now and is often photographed taking cigarette breaks on set. However, she’s never been seen smoking on the screen because she thinks it’s a bad example for yoounger generations.
Her parents made her learn to play the cello when she was in high school. Katherine Heigl took private lessons for a few years, but she never really enjoyed it. In fact, she thought it was really annoying and used to cut class.
The actress sued the drug and convenience store chain Duane Reade in 2014 after the company Tweeted an image of her shopping from one of their NYC stores. Heigl requested $6 million but eventually dismissed the lawsuit after reaching a ”beneficial agreement” with the company.
The actress, her husband, and their three children live in a Utah ranch, near Park City. They wanted to live in a quiet place, away from the noise, the pollution, and the paparazzi, and Utah just seemed like the perfect choice for them: “The weather is so perfect. There are no real extremes in summer or in winter. The people are really kind and gracious and down-to-earth and normal. We really kind of found this little place of heaven.”
Physical Characteristics:
Heigl has a slim build, a height of 5 ft 9 in or 175 cm, and a weight of 58 kg or 128 pounds. She has long blonde hair and dark brown eyes.
Interests
Politicians
Barack Obama
Writers
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, Belong To Me by Marisa de los Santos, Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson, Listening to Your Life by Frederick Buechner, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, Beach Music by Pat Conroy
Sport & Clubs
Yoga, kickboxing, hockey
Music & Bands
Charli XCX, Sam Smith, Josh Kelly, The Belle Brigade, Nico and Vinz, Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen, Metallica
Connections
In June 2006, Heigl became engaged to singer Josh Kelley, whom she had met a year earlier on the set of his music video for Only You. They chose not to live together before they were married, with Heigl later explaining, "I think I just wanted to save something for the actual marriage... I wanted there to be something to make the actual marriage different than the dating or the courtship." They were married on December 23, 2007, in Park City, Utah.
In September 2009, the couple adopted a daughter, Naleigh, from South Korea, the birthplace of Heigl's sister Meg. She was born with a heart defect and underwent open-heart surgery before leaving Korea. In April 2012, Kelley and Heigl adopted a second daughter, Adalaide Marie Hope, from the U.S. In June 2016, the couple announced that they were expecting their third child. Heigl gave birth to a son, Joshua Bishop, on December 20, 2016.
Heigl's brother-in-law is singer Charles Kelley of the country music trio Lady Antebellum.