1992–1998: Early work When Heigl was nine, her aunt, along with her parents, sent photos of her to a modeling agency. Within a few weeks, she was signed with
Wilhelmina Models as a
child model. Soon after she was signed with the agency, a client picked her for use in a magazine ad, where she made her modeling debut. At the time, Heigl was earning $75 an hour posing for
Sears and
Lord & Taylor catalogs. The first time Heigl appeared in a national television ad was for
Cheerios cereal. Heigl began studying acting and made her film debut in
That Night (1992). She played Christina Sebastian in
Steven Soderbergh's
Depression-era drama
King of the Hill before being cast in her first leading role in the 1994 comedy
My Father the Hero. During this time, Heigl continued to attend
New Canaan High School, balancing her film and modeling work with her academic studies. Heigl dropped out of New Canaan High School after her sophomore year to pursue her career in Hollywood. In 1995, she starred in the
Steven Seagal-directed
action thriller Under Siege 2: Dark Territory. Heigl portrayed a 16-year-old named Sarah traveling by train through the mountains with her uncle
Casey Ryback (Seagal), an ex-
SEAL counter-terrorist expert, in order to visit the grave of her deceased father. The train is hijacked by mercenaries in
Colorado, who keep Heigl's character as a hostage. Much of her work in the film was opposite
Morris Chestnut, Sandra Taylor and
Everett McGill. Despite an increased focus on acting, Heigl still modeled extensively, appearing regularly in magazines such as
Seventeen. She landed the lead role in
Disney's
made-for-television film Wish Upon a Star in 1996, portraying two
body-swapping characters along with
Danielle Harris. That year Heigl's parents divorced, and her mother was diagnosed with cancer. After her high school graduation in 1997, Heigl moved into a four-bedroom house in
Malibu Canyon, California with her mother, who also became her manager. In 1998, she co-starred with
Peter Fonda in the television movie
The Tempest, an adaptation of
William Shakespeare's
play of the same name. The setting of the film was changed to
Civil War Mississippi. She also starred in the horror film
Bride of Chucky.
1999–2004: Roswell and television movies In 1999, Heigl turned her attention to television when she accepted the role of
Isabel Evans on the science fiction TV drama
Roswell, a role that was expanded in the show's second and third seasons. Heigl had auditioned for all three of the show's female leads (the other two roles eventually went to
Shiri Appleby and
Majandra Delfino) before she was finally cast as Isabel, an alien-human hybrid. Heigl was frequently featured in photo essays in magazines such as
Life,
TV Guide, and
Teen as well as
FHM. She appeared in the
FHM and
Maxim calendars,
FHM's annual "
100 Sexiest Women in the World", and was featured in the Girls of Maxim Gallery. In May 2006,
Maxim awarded her #12 on their annual Hot 100 List as well as voted the 19th "Sexiest Woman in the World" by readers of
FHM magazine. While
Roswell was in production, Heigl worked on several films, including
100 Girls, an
independent 2001 film, and
Valentine, a
horror film starring
David Boreanaz and
Denise Richards. Heigl accepted a role in
Ground Zero, a television thriller scheduled to be telecast that fall which was based on the bestselling James Mills novel
The Seventh Power, in the spring of 2001. She co-starred as a brilliant and politically-concerned college student who helps to build a nuclear device to illustrate the need for a change in national priorities. The device ends up in the hands of a terrorist following betrayal by a fellow student. However, after the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the film was shelved as its plot was considered inappropriate. It was released in 2003 under the title
Critical Assembly. After the 9/11 attacks, Heigl recorded a
public service announcement for the
American Red Cross to help raise money for victims. In 2003, Heigl appeared in three television movies, including the horror genre
Evil Never Dies, a modern-day variation on the
Frankenstein story co-starring
Thomas Gibson; and
Love Comes Softly for
Hallmark Entertainment as Marty Claridge, a young, newlywed traveling west, and reprised her role in the sequel ''
Love's Enduring Promise'' the next year.
Dale Midkiff was her co-star in both Hallmark films. Heigl played Isabella Linton in MTV's modern revamp of
Emily Brontë's
Wuthering Heights. In October 2003, Heigl was cast opposite
Johnny Knoxville in
The Ringer, a
Farrelly brothers comedy that was released in December 2005. Heigl starred as Romy in the 2005 television film
Romy and Michele: In the Beginning, a
prequel to the 1997 film ''
Romy and Michele's High School Reunion''.
2005–2010: ''Grey's Anatomy'' and breakthrough In 2005, Heigl was cast as medical intern
Dr. Isobel "Izzie" Stevens on the
ABC medical drama ''
Grey's Anatomy. The show, initially a mid-season replacement, became a huge ratings success and one of the highest-rated series on broadcast TV. The same year, Heigl landed the starring role in the independent film Side Effects (2005), a romantic comedy about marketing and the pharmaceutical industry, for which she was also executive producer. A year later, Heigl was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries, or Television Film for her work on Grey's Anatomy''. Heigl also starred in
Zyzzyx Road; filmed in 2004 and not released until 2006; it has been cited as the lowest-grossing feature film of all time. In 2007, Heigl had her high-profile film breakthrough with
Knocked Up (2007), a comedy from writer/director
Judd Apatow, opposite
Seth Rogen,
Paul Rudd, and Apatow's wife,
Leslie Mann. Upon its June 2007 theatrical release, the film received generally positive reviews from critics and proved to be a box office success and a summer romcom hit. The fees Heigl commanded increased after the film's success. The movie grossed $148,761,765 in the U.S., for which she earned a salary of US$300,000. Heigl's role in the film transformed her into Hollywood's new "It girl" according to
Vanity Fair. in 2007 On September 16, 2007, Heigl won the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Izzie Stevens on ''Grey's Anatomy''. When her name was called for the award, her exclamation of "Shit!" was
censored. Heigl starred with
James Marsden in the film
27 Dresses, for which she received US$6 million. Heigl was announced the Most Desirable Woman of 2008, according to
AskMen.
Anne Fletcher, the director of
27 Dresses described her as having the "‘It’ factor". She explained further, "You can't buy it; you can't learn it; you can't create it; it just is. We haven't had one of her in many years.
Julia Roberts,
Sandra Bullock,
Meg Ryan— those have been our go-to girls for romantic comedy for a very long time, but we haven't had a new one. Katie has beauty, vulnerability, identifiability. She's funny, charming, lovely to watch. Her slightest eye movement is captivating; you know instantly what's going on." Apatow and Rogen were reportedly not pleased with Heigl's interview, as Rogen said that he enjoyed working with Heigl and was stung by her comments. Heigl's comments generated a widespread reaction in the media. In an interview with
People magazine, Heigl said: My motive was to encourage other women like myself to not take that element of the movie too seriously, and to remember that it's a broad comedy"; and added, "Although I stand behind my opinion, I'm disheartened that it has become the focus of my experience with the movie." There was some speculation that Heigl might be leaving ''Grey's Anatomy'' after the end of its
fifth season. This speculation revolved around her refusal to submit her name for Emmy consideration for the previous season. Heigl had disagreements with the character's direction in the fourth season, deeming the storyline involving Izzie's affair with George a "ratings ploy" that served to be "shocking" Heigl said publicly that she'd opted out of the Emmy race that year because she felt the material she'd received didn't warrant Emmy consideration. The comment reportedly angered the show's producers and writers, who interpreted it as a slight on their work. ''Grey's'' showrunner
Shonda Rhimes said she was not insulted by Heigl's Emmy withdrawal, and noted that Heigl's character was downplayed during the season because Heigl had asked for a lighter work schedule. Despite Heigl's reported displeasure with the previous season, and persistent rumors that her character had died, ABC confirmed that Heigl would return for the sixth season of ''Grey's''. 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. 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. The backlash over Heigl's comments on
Knocked Up and ''Grey's Anatomy'' has given Heigl a reputation of being difficult to work with which was seen to have damaged her career.
2010–13: Further rom-com roles 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. 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. For her performance, Heigl received a
Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Actress. In January 2012, Heigl disclosed her enthusiastic desires to reprise her role on ''Grey's Anatomy'' and wrap up Izzie's storyline, conceiving an idea of her success in another hospital after floundering in the fictional Seattle Grace hospital where she was 'one step behind the eight ball'. She admitted to regretting leaving the show. She complimented the great work environment and family dynamic of the cast but also stated, "I completely understand if it doesn't necessarily work ... They've got a lot of storylines going on there." In 2013, she appeared alongside
Robert De Niro,
Susan Sarandon and
Diane Keaton 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.
2014–19: Departure from romcoms and television resurgence In 2014, Heigl admitted to
Marie Claire magazine that while she loves romantic comedies and was "so stoked to be doing them", she "hit it a little too hard," professing "I couldn't say no. There's nothing wrong with them, but maybe I overloaded my audience. I should have done a superhero movie or a psychological thriller." During this period of time, Heigl broke away from her conventional romcom roles, pursuing romantic dramas, doing voiceover work, dark comedies and returning to dramatic television. 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 also voice-acted the squirrel Andie in the animated film
The Nut Job which was released on January 17, 2014. She reprised her role in its 2017 sequel,
The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature which was released theatrically on August 11, 2017. She next starred as a rejected and jealous housewife in the dark comedy
Home Sweet Hell (2015), alongside
Patrick Wilson and
Jordana Brewster. Released for VOD and a limited theatrical run in North America, the film received largely negative reviews.
Variety wrote in its verdict: "Considering how often [Heigl] has been slammed for not being just another docile, eager-to-please female celebrity, it's hard not to suspect that she might have relished the chance to play an unapologetically ball-busting shrew—a grotesquely exaggerated version of a stereotype she's been assigned many times over. Indeed, Heigl's performance as a coolly murderous model housewife is the only real reason to even consider watching
Home Sweet Hell, an otherwise flailing and risible tale of adultery, extortion and suburban malaise that suggests a poor woman's
Gone Girl". She received a
Golden Raspberry Award nomination for
Worst Actress. In 2015, Heigl starred as the titular role in the independent film ''
Jenny's Wedding'', about a woman who finally decides to get married, but her choice of partner tears her conventional family apart. An
Indiegogo campaign was later launched to help raise money for post-production costs, and like Heigl's previous few projects, the film was distributed for a VOD and limited release in certain parts of the United States only. She starred opposite
Rosario Dawson and
Geoff Stults in the erotic thriller
Unforgettable (2017), portraying a divorcée who torments the new fiancée of her ex-husband. The film was her first
wide release in three years; it garnered mediocre reviews and grossed a paltry US$4.7 million in its opening weekend. Nevertheless,
The Globe and Mail remarked that "Heigl works overtime to humanize the resentful mom—her face is like an old-fashioned cash register with the prices popping up—but she's more fun to watch as the story grows ugly and violent, and she unleashes the demon within". Heigl's lead roles in the 2014–15
NBC political drama series
State of Affairs and
CBS 2017 legal drama
Doubt were both cancelled after one season. However, unlike
State of Affairs,
Doubt premiered to what was described as "tepid" ratings by
The Hollywood Reporter, and CBS announced its cancellation after just two episodes, later burning out its episodes. Heigl returned to form when she was cast in the
USA Network legal drama series
Suits, playing the role of Samantha Wheeler, a new partner at the fictional law firm of Zane Specter Litt. Heigl remained on the show for its final two seasons.
2020–present: professional expansion, Firefly Lane, Woodhull, and reunion with co-stars Heigl was later cast in the leading role opposite
Sarah Chalke and
Ben Lawson for the Netflix show
Firefly Lane, released in 2021. Heigl is also executive producer. The series was a success and renewed for a second season. Also that year, Heigl co-starred in
Fear of Rain, a psychological thriller written and directed by Castille Landon.
Harry Connick Jr.,
Madison Iseman and
Israel Broussard completed the cast. In December 2020, it was announced that Heigl will star and executive produce again with the limited series
Woodhull. She is set to portray the first female candidate for the presidency of the United States,
Victoria Woodhull. In January 2021, Heigl declared in an interview with
The Washington Post promoting
Firefly Lane that she was "done apologizing" for her past reputation and criticized being labelled as "difficult" in the late 2000s and early 2010s. She also acknowledged how it may have impacted her career. Her
27 Dresses co-star
James Marsden defended the actress' "courage" and "strong convictions" and remarked unsurprised at her career expanding role in executive production. In September 2021, she endorsed the
IATSE strike and remarked heavy criticism for speaking up about the harsh working conditions on the set of ''Grey's Anatomy'' that the crew endured, while also commenting on health and safety failures in long-hour productions. In 2022, her former co-star
Ellen Pompeo stated in a podcast that Heigl would have been branded a "hero" today for her 2009 remarks about their 17-hour workday. She further stated, "But she’s ahead of her time, made a statement about our crazy hours and of course, [it was like] ‘Let’s slam a woman and call her ungrateful.'" In the summer of 2023, Heigl and her former co-star Ellen Pompeo reunited on
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors, where they talked about their time on Grey's Anatomy and Heigl's departure from the show, among other things. Heigl said: “I was so naive. I got on my soapbox, and I had some things to say, and I felt really passionate about this stuff. I felt really strong. 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.” Pompeo responded: “You know what I love? There are two roles women fit into, victim or villain. And the women who are victims are only victims because they don't have the guts to be the villain." In January 2024, Heigl joined her former Grey's Anatomy colleagues
Ellen Pompeo,
Chandra Wilson,
Justin Chambers and
James Pickens Jr. at the
75th Primetime Emmy Awards to present the award for
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. In June 2024, Heigl was a guest on
Shannen Doherty's podcast ''Let's Be Clear..with Shannen Doherty'' where they talked about how they lived against the negative labels placed on them in Hollywood and how important it is to them to care for and keep animals properly. == Personal life ==