Katherine Heigl starred in one of the biggest TV dramas as well as some of the biggest movies in the 2000s, but what's she doing now? In 2007, Grey's Anatomy actress Katherine Heigl won a Primetime Emmy Award and co-starred in the popular comedy film Knocked Up. Surprisingly, however, she never evolved into a proper mainstream movie star, despite all of her talent and accomplishments. In 2020, Heigl headlines the Netflix series Firefly Lane, which means that viewers may be wondering where she's been all these years.
Most people know Heigl as Dr. Izzie Stevens, a main character in Grey's Anatomy from 2005 to 2010. Through the ABC drama series, Heigl became somewhat of a household name, at least for those who kept up with traditional network television back then. And when Heigl was initially cast as Izzie, she'd already been a working movie actress for well over a decade, appearing in films such as Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995), Bride of Chucky (1998), and 100 Girls (2000), to name a few notable productions. Heigl also had a strong TV following prior to her ABC role, as she starred as Isabel Evans in The WB series Roswell. In short, Grey's Anatomy confirmed Heigl as a true TV icon, and her Knocked Up performance teased a lasting movie career in romantic comedies.
When Knocked Up released, not everybody was convinced about the romantic chemistry between stone Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) and TV personality Alison Scott (Heigl). Still, the film became a massive box office hit and led to starring roles for Heigl in 27 Dresses and The Ugly Truth - two films, in retrospect, that may not seem like memorable 21st century classics. Crucially, however, both romantic comedies made big money and essentially showed everybody that Heigl was a bankable rom-com star, with three consecutive hits being the evidence. But then Heigl made two career-changing decisions that damaged her reputation in both the film and TV industries.
In 2008, Heigl stated that Knocked Up was "a little sexist" during a Vanity Fair interview. She also noted that Judd Apatow's film "paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. It exaggerated the characters, and I had a hard time with it, on some days." Rogen later stated (via THR) that he felt "betrayed" by Heigl's comments, but told Vanity Fair that he's no longer "mad." The controversy certainly didn't kill Heigl's movie career, as she went on to star in several romantic comedies over the next several years, most notably in New Year's Eve and Life As We Know It. By 2015, though, a new wave of actresses emerged to claim roles that once might've gone to Heigl.
In the same year that Heigl slammed Knocked Up, she upset Grey's Anatomy writers by withdrawing from Emmy consideration and implying that she wasn't happy with the material she received. And just like that, media reports framed Heigl as a problematic actress, one who theoretically might be pleasant on set but disruptive behind the scenes. After leaving Grey's Anatomy, Heigl didn't work in television for another three years. But just as she overcame the Knocked Up movie drama, Heigl managed to re-build her TV career through starring roles in NBC's State of Affairs, CBS' Doubt, and USA's Suits. She still starred in movies and TV throughout the 2010s, but they weren't as notable as her roles in the 2000s. With Firefire Lane, a Netflix adaptation of Kristin Hannah's 2008 novel, Katherine Heigl could potentially solidify herself once again as a major TV star in 2020 and beyond.