- “The actress from Firefly Lane married Josh Kelley in 2007.
- Us Weekly announced two years later that the couple had adopted Naleigh from South Korea.
- After a public argument with creator Shonda Rhimes, she abruptly left.
A challenging moment. After spending so much time away from daughter Naleigh while filming Grey’s Anatomy, Katherine Heigl spoke candidly about the challenges she encountered as a mother.
The Most Insightful “Grey’s Anatomy” Quotes from Katherine Heigl Since Izzie’s Departure
“I never saw that baby. I was at work with three triplets who were playing my goddaughter and I spent more time with them than I did with my new daughter and she bonded with my husband,” Heigl, 44, said during the Monday, November 28, episode of The View. “So, I was always afraid that I had missed that opportunity to really bond with her and that she didn’t love me.”
The actress from Firefly Lane married Josh Kelley in 2007. Us Weekly announced two years later that the couple had adopted Naleigh from South Korea. Later that month, the couple posted pictures of their 10-month-old.
Heigl, however, was “on a plane” and back to “work in Atlanta” for the ABC series less than a year after they brought their infant home.
“At the time, becoming a new mother, I was just like, ‘I got it. I got it. I can handle this,’” she explained. “You know, they’ve told us we can have it all. We can have careers and have families and it’s all gonna be great. It’s all gonna work out.”
The actress from Firefly Lane married Josh Kelley in 2007. Us Weekly announced two years later that the couple had adopted Naleigh from South Korea. Later that month, the couple posted pictures of their 10-month-old.
Heigl, though, was “on a plane” and back to “work in Atlanta” for the ABC series less than a year after they brought their infant home.
The resident of Washington, D.C., has been open about the difficulties she had while working on Grey’s Anatomy over the years. From 2005 to 2010, when she left the medical drama midway through season six, Heigl appeared in nearly 100 episodes as Dr. Izzie Stevens. After a public argument with creator Shonda Rhimes, she abruptly left.
Family Photo Album of Josh Kelley and Katherine Heigl with Their 3 Children
“There was a resolution to Izzie’s story. We had planned to have her come back for an episode to really properly tie up Izzie and Alex (Justin Chambers),” Krista Vernoff, who worked on seasons 1-7 of the medical drama before returning as the showrunner for season 14, told the Los Angeles Times in November 2020. “And I wrote that episode, and it was beautiful. The day before it was supposed to start prepping or shooting, I can’t remember, we got a call that Katie wasn’t coming. Just wasn’t coming. Wasn’t going to do it. It became my job to stay up all night for multiple nights and reimagine a script that didn’t include Izzie.”
Vernoff continued by saying that even though viewers “screamed” at the writers about Heigl’s leaving for “years and years,” the show always had plans to finish up Izzie’s tale. That is the background information. That is what took place. I don’t say that to make fun of Katie. I have no idea what was going on in her life, she said.
However, Heigl-related sources at the time told Us that Vernoff made a “mistake” regarding the actress’ departure from the show. Katherine was waiting to be called to set when she returned to Los Angeles after parental leave (when she adopted her daughter Adalaide).
For her part, Heigl stated to Access in 2014 that she hoped to “someday” mend the rift between her and Rhimes, 52. The Knocked Up star even admitted to the Washington Post in January 2021 that whether or not she would reprise her role as Izzie before the venerable series comes to an end would “completely depend upon the team over there, how they feel about it, and the story.” Never say never, she emphasized.
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