Katherine Heigl Talks ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Exit: ‘My Priorities Were Messed Up’

Actress says she was putting too much energy into work, as she prepares for her return to the small screen

Katherine Heigl drama
Getty Images

Stop the presses; Katherine Heigl has admitted fallibility.

The Emmy-winning actress — who gained fame and acclaim playing Dr. Izzie Stevens on the ABC medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy” — is discussing her 2010 exit from the series. Heigl admitted that she was “messed up” in the time leading up to her departure. Or at least her priorities were.

Also read: Katherine Heigl Addresses Whether She’s Difficult, After Some Difficulty

“I felt like my priorities were messed up,” Heigl, who has two adopted daughters with her husband Josh Kelley, told Good Housekeeping. “I was putting so much time and energy into just my work, but I was raised [to believe] that family comes first.”

Also read: Katherine Heigl Claims ‘Too Many Rom-Coms’ Derailed Her Career

“I would come home angry and frustrated that I’d missed everything with my kid that day,” she continued. “I didn’t get to wake her up from her nap, or do bath time or bedtime. I’d have to sneak into her room and kiss her when she was sleeping, hoping not to wake her up

Heigl’s career has since experienced its rough patches, a fact that she blamed on her decision to focus on big screen romantic comedies during a recent interview with Marie Claire UK. The actress is slated to return to the small screen in the NBC drama “State of Affairs,” which Heigl stars as a CIA attache.

But won’t the return to television increase her workload and lead, perhaps, to a re-mussing up of her priorities?

Also read: Katherine Heigl Files $6 Million Lawsuit Against Pharmacy Chain

Perhaps not, now that she, Kelley and their daughters live in the relatively tranquil environs of Utah.

“Utah is spectacularly beautiful, the people are wonderful and kind, it’s an easy commute from L.A. — and there’s no traffic!” Heigl enthused.

Presumably, there are a lot fewer actresses with misplaced priorities there as well.

Comments