From Life is Precarious
A life in acting appealed to Katherine Heigl because, she says, it lets her pretend to be someone else, like Izzie Stevens, the doctor with the colorful past on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, or Alison, the inconveniently pregnant girlfriend in Knocked Up, last summer's hit comedy. But Heigl's success -- Knocked Up made her one of Hollywood's most sought-after comic actresses -- comes only after a series of daunting personal hardships. Her struggles, and her triumph, make her at least as fascinating as any of the characters she portrays on-screen.The youngest of four in a close-knit family, the 29-year-old beauty, daughter of an accountant and a stay-at-home mom, grew up in Connecticut and quickly learned, as she puts it, "life is precarious" when her teenage brother Jason was killed in an auto accident. Before moving West to pursue her career, she lived through a loved one's harrowing battle with cancer and weathered her parents' breakup.
Now Heigl's life is full -- of good things. Between shooting Grey's, for which she won an Emmy and was nominated for a Golden Globe, promoting her current film, 27 Dresses (another romantic comedy) and preparing to wed singer-songwriter Josh Kelley, she sat down with RD and proved that behind her very pretty face, she doesn't have to be anybody other than the person she is.
RD: I hate to start an interview on a sad note, but your success grew out of some very hard times. You were 16. You were all ready to head to L.A. to pursue your acting career. Then your mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Heigl: My mom's actually a really good example of why women need to get regular mammograms. By the time she found the lump in the shower one morning, it was so huge that you couldn't ignore it. She ended up having a lumpectomy, and then chemo and then a mastectomy.
RD: Did that frighten you?
Heigl: As soon as the doctor said it was malignant, all I thought was that my mother was going to die. Then she went through nine months of hard-core chemo. I make my mother sound like a saint, but she kind of is. I've never seen anybody handle things the way she does. She lost all her hair. We would sit there with her during her chemo, and [the drug they were giving her] was red, like Kool-Aid. So my mother had a big Kool-Aid party when she was done with chemo. Everybody wore bandannas and drank Kool-Aid and celebrated. I'm sure she must have had her moments, but she never really let on. It's made me feel, Okay, breast cancer is not the end of the world. Her approach was always to look to her future.
RD: So is she fine today?
Heigl: Knock on wood, yeah.
Another Tragedy
RD: Your family dealt with another tragedy. You were seven when your older brother, then 15, was killed. What effect does something like that have?Heigl: It changes everything: the whole dynamic of the family and how you live. Everybody knows that at any given moment, something terrible could happen, but you don't think much about it until it does. I've always lived with the fear of loss.
RD: Were you aware of your parents' decision to donate Jason's organs?
Heigl: It just always seemed like the right thing to do. Now when I talk to people about organ donation and they have their misgivings, I can't quite understand it, because it's something I've always understood and believed in.
RD: So do you have a donor sticker on your driver's license?
Heigl: Oh, yeah.
RD: You work to encourage people to become donors, right?
Heigl: Yes. I'm involved with the Coalition on Donation. I know that it's a really hard conversation to have with someone because basically you're saying that if the worst possible thing in the world happens, what decision do you want to make? But I do think that people need to have that conversation.
RD: You were the youngest in your family. Were you treated like the baby?
Heigl: My siblings were ten, eight and four years older than me. They teased me relentlessly. My sister and I, we're much closer now, but when we were younger, we were so different.
RD: Growing up, was your home strict?
Heigl: My sister and I were raised Mormon, which is fairly black-and-white as far as rules go. You don't drink, and I had curfews and wasn't allowed to date before I was 16. I never rebelled. I'm so grateful I had that sort of black-and-white environment because it made it much easier to just be a kid. Life gets complicated and gray early enough.
RD: Your parents separated when you were 18 and divorced after that. Was that hard for you to deal with?
Heigl: No. It was so obvious after 30 years that these were two people not really living up to their full potential together. My parents have maintained a fairly decent relationship since. So it made it a lot easier to deal with.
RD: Was it financially daunting when you and your mom were first in L.A.?
Heigl: Yeah. My mom, who's my manager, walked away with some money from their divorce. She used it to buy a house in Calabasas but kept having to take loans out on the mortgage. She supported us with the money for a really long time; birthday money from her mother and residual checks [from my earlier modeling and acting] were a blessing.
On a Role
RD: Now you're starring on the very hot Grey's Anatomy. When did you realize the show was going to be a huge success?Heigl: I was in New York the second year. People on the street would stop to talk about the show. In New York, people don't stop to talk about anything.
RD: Did you have any idea that your film Knocked Up would be such a hit?
Heigl: There were certainly high hopes for it, but I don't think we expected it to do quite that well. Judd Apatow has a comedic vision that incorporates heart and soul. People responded not only to the comedy, they responded to the characters in it.
RD: Before that, did you think of yourself as a comedic actress?
Heigl: I've always liked to joke around and be silly, but I never thought it could translate into real comedy. Now I say to the Grey's writers, "Write me comedy." I watch the show every week and I'll be like, Oh, God, it's Izzie's sympathetic face again. Give me some comedy. It's more interesting.
RD: Your next movie, 27 Dresses, is quintessential romantic comedy. It has people saying you're the next Julia Roberts.
Heigl: Not only will that make Julia Roberts hate me, but that's a lot of pressure. Julia Roberts needs no replacing.
RD: Is your mom still your manager?
Heigl: She's more like a business partner. We're starting up a production company together. It's a perfect balance because I've got the creative end wrapped up and she's got the business end.
RD: Do you get kidded about the stage mother thing?
Heigl: I know there are plenty of stereotypes, but at the end of the day, my mother has always put my agenda first. And even when it got really hard, my mother was the person saying, We'll figure something else out. You don't want to do this anymore -- we'll go do something else. The place she comes from is, I will not conduct myself in fear.
RD: Who is your role model?
Heigl: My mom, of course. It's because of the way she approaches life. She's very joyful and funny and compassionate and kind, but she's also very courageous.
RD: By the time this comes out, you'll be married. Do you have a vision of what you want to be five years from now?
Heigl: I've got it all mapped out. My mother always says, If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. But I'm passionate about having a big family. Once I have one child, we'll see how I feel about that. But I love the idea of seven children.
RD: Really?
Heigl: I do. And I love the idea of creating a very stable, normal family here in L.A. I want what I had growing up -- normalcy in the midst of chaos. I want to create traditions for us as a couple and for our kids and for our extended family. Those will be the things that keep us sane.
Hanging Out With Heigl
What are you reading now?Philip Yancey's What's So Amazing About Grace? Grace is my favorite concept.
Your favorite food?
French.
How do you stay so teeny, then?
I do kettlebells. It's the great Russian secret -- a weighted ball with a handle that you swing. It's literally changed my whole body, and I do it twice a week for 20 minutes.
Which CD are you listening to right now?
Josh Kelley's. His new album has my all-time favorite song, "Falling in Love with You," on it. He's a very soulful singer.
Okay, the last great joke you told or were told.
A man goes to the doctor. He tells him he's got 24 hours to live. He goes home, says to his wife, "I've only got 24 hours to live. I want to make love to you as many times as I can before I die." So they do it a couple of times, then go to sleep. He nudges her at three in the morning and says, "I've only got a few hours left. I want one more time with you." She goes, "That's easy for you, Jim. You don't have to get up at six in the morning."
A Reader Wants To Know
What do you think is necessary for success?
-Rain West, Beijing, China
Heigl: I think that if you are passionate about something, you're already halfway there. Stay focused, work hard, and with some grace, success should follow.