The former 'Grey's Anatomy' actress opens up on her personal struggle following her exit from the medical drama series.
- Apr 21, 2016
AceShowbiz - Katherine Heigl opens up about her feud with Shonda Rhimes before her exit from "Grey's Anatomy". In an interview with Howard Stern for his SiriusXM radio show, the actress who played Dr. Izzie Stevens on the medical drama series reveals about her struggle with depression following the debacle.
After winning an Emmy a year before, Heigl refused to put her name in for the competition again. It created tension on the set. She was fired and slammed by Rhimes as someone "difficult" to work with. "There are no Heigls in this situation," the female producer even dissed the actress in a 2014 interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Media was quick to label her as a diva and it apparently bothered her so much that she sought help. "I had never done therapy until a couple years ago," she spills to Stern. "I started going because of the [pauses] scrutiny. I was not handling it well. I was feeling completely like the biggest piece of s**t on the bottom of your shoe. I was really struggling with it and how to not take it all personally and not to feel that there's something really deeply wrong with me."
"It was a weird time," she continues. "I remember doing this little independent movie and just being afraid to say anything about anything. I remember wearing shoes a size too small because I was afraid to tell wardrobe that they weren't big enough because I didn't want to be difficult. And after that, I was like, this is nonsense. Stop it."
The "State of Affairs" actress also explains her Emmy withdrawal. "I didn't feel good about my performance and there was a part of me that thought, because I had won the year before, that I needed juicy, dramatic, emotional material," she says. "I went in because I was really embarrassed."
Heigl recalls apologizing to the producer, "So I went in to Shonda and said, 'I'm so sorry. That wasn't cool, and I should not have said that.' And I shouldn't have said anything publicly. But at the time, I didn't think anyone would notice ... I just quietly didn't submit and then it became a story, and I felt I was obligated to make my statement, and ... 'Shut up, Katie.' "
When asked about her demand for more screen time, she admits, "Yeah, it does feel a little dirty. And then you feel selfish and then you feel like you're not being fair somehow. But everybody has to look out for themselves ... There are a lot of people. It's a big show. And that's, I think, what made it work so much too! ... I don't even know how they kept that s**t straight."
