14 DAY TRIAL // Katherine Heigl is no longer Hollywood’s “it girl” like she was when she was still on “Grey’s Anatomy” and, according to industry insiders, she has no one but herself to blame for that. Over the weekend, the actress sat on a Television Critics Association panel for her new NBC show, “State of Affairs,” and she was forced to address the rather awkward question of her “difficult” reputation.
The exchange was prompted by NPR’s Eric Deggans, The Wrap informs, and, if executive producer Ed Bernero had had his way, it would have not happened at all because he tried to change the subject. But Deggans pressed Heigl for an answer: was she really as difficult as she was rumored to be? Did she admit just recently that there was a point in her career when she had lost control?
You have to understand, at the height of her fame, Heigl was the darling of all movie studios, the actress for whom everyone was fighting to work with. She had offers coming in by the dozens and she was getting paid many millions of dollars for a single role.
All that lasted until she began bad-mouthing the very people she was working with, starting with her former team on “Grey’s Anatomy.” That wasn’t enough to get the industry to turn on her, though: the final drop came when her diva demands on and off set became impossible, and her movies stopped making money.
Today, Katherine doesn’t get that many offers anymore. In fact, to see her latest film completed, she and the staff working on it launched a Kickstarter campaign to get financing. This NBC show is her comeback and there are countless voices saying she won’t be getting a third chance after this one: so it’s either make it or break it for her.
It’s in her best interest to speak frankly and, more importantly, to convince the fans and industry people that she’s not the same person she was. She’s starting with her bad reputation.
“I can't really speak to that,” Katherine said of being “difficult.” “I can only say that I certainly don't see myself as difficult. I would never intend to be difficult. I don't think my mother sees herself as being difficult… I think it's important for everyone to conduct themselves professionally, respectfully and kindly.”
She also addressed the second question, of whether she said in a recent interview with Marie Claire that she’d lost control over her career, saying she had no recollection of that.
She’s not entirely honest here, because she did say something along these lines, explaining how her career had “betrayed” her and she was left not knowing what to do and where to turn. “The thing that was my best friend for a long time suddenly turned on me,” she said. “And I didn’t expect it. I was taken by surprise and angry at it for betraying me.”