Katherine Heigl calls first day back on Grey’s set ‘cruel and mean’

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Katherine Heigl should count her lucky stars that she was asked to come back to “Grey’s Anatomy” for another season, especially after she trash-talked the show’s writing on at least two separate occasions last year. She even brashly took her name off the list of potential Emmy nominees in 2008, saying in an obnoxious statement that “I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination.” That wasn’t the first time Heigl dissed her employers and it won’t be the last.

In a recent interview, Heigl defended her blunt and often rude comments, saying she’s just stating her opinion and that she’s finds it “preposterous” that “I can’t be honest about how I feel about things because it’s going to piss somebody off who feels differently.”

People Magazine has the details of Heigl’s appearance on “The Late Show” on Monday night, and she’s predictably at it again. She calls it “cruel and mean” that she was on set for 17 hours on her first day back at Grey’s. That does sound excessive, but I’m sure she spent a significant amount of downtime in her plush trailer, along with receiving catered meals and beverages delivered by an assistant.

Katherine Heigl may be back to work on the set of Grey’s Anatomy, but according to the actress, it hasn’t been a super-happy homecoming.

“Our first day back was Wednesday and it was — I’m going to keep saying this because I hope it embarrasses them — a 17-hour day,” Heigl told David Letterman during a visit to the Late Show on Monday, “which I think is cruel and mean.”

One reason for her lack of pep: her good pal T.R. Knight’s departure from the show.

“It was actually kind of really great to be back,” she said. “All my friends are there and at this point, they’re sort of like family, but it was a little weird because [T.R.]’s not there anymore.”

As open as she is about her feelings about the show, Heigl remained tight-lipped about the fate of her character, who was last seen in an ambiguous scene after undergoing surgery for a brain tumor. “You last saw Izzie, you know, flatlining,” she told Letterman. “So, I won’t give it away but, you know, I’m there so I’m either there as a ghost, on the other side or I survived a disease no one survives.”

“I’m guessing if you’re working 17 hours, that means you’re not dead,” Letterman observed.

Heigl’s reply: “What if, however, Dave, I was in a bed in a coma for 17 hours, they could do that to me.”

Despite the long days shooting the medical drama, Heigl said she hopes Grey’s Anatomy, which returns to ABC on Sept. 24, will stick around for a while.

“We have another two years, I think, at least in the contract,” she said. “Hopefully the show goes, you know, ER time, which would be cool.”

[From People.com]

From what I understand, long hours on set are common for movies and television shows because it’s difficult to coordinate cast, crew and equipment. They try to get in as much filming time as possible once everything is set up. How is this woman scoring roles on major motion pictures with this kind of attitude? At least she’s not a drunken mess like a lot of starlets, but she seems so ungrateful and obnoxious about her charmed life. You know who regularly work 17 hour days – doctors in residency like her character on Greys. They don’t get all the perks, breaks, or a fraction of the salary that she enjoys. Their job is stressful, demanding and requires difficult decisions that people’s lives sometimes depend on. There are also plenty of menial jobs that require long, hard hours. The only person who should be embarrassed by Heigl’s latest round of bitching is herself.

Katherine Heigl is shown at the premiere of The Ugly Truth on 6/21/09. Credit: Fame Pictures

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31 Responses to “Katherine Heigl calls first day back on Grey’s set ‘cruel and mean’”

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  1. michelle says:

    such a cow!!!

  2. Fiestarter says:

    In a day and age when most people have NO job or means of supporting themselves, much less earning what she does per episode, it sickens me that this woman has the nerve to complain about 17 hrs on a set, working. As this post stated, most of that was probably spent in her air conditioned trailer, eating, watching t.v, pecking around on her lap top, talking on the cell phone and sleeping. She really needs a hard, cold dose of reality, and she needs to live in the real world, where we all live, where jobs are scarce, paying bills is a luxury and free time from stress is a dream.

  3. viper says:

    What is with her face? What she colored her hair and now looks like she’s got botox! What was wrong with her blonde natural look?!

  4. Rosi says:

    she’s not blonde naturally. in earlier films you can see that she has natural brown hair. just as Scarlett Johanson.

  5. Kait says:

    I think in a lot of cases she is annoying but her withdrawing her name was actually a good thing. She didn’t have any good material and her being nominated would have made a joke out of the awards show.

  6. j.ann says:

    @Kait I love awards shows, but most of them are jokes to begin with. Maybe if she didn’t withdraw in the way she did in which she placed all the blame on the writers, it wouldn’t have been so bad.

    And seriously? 17 hours? For the amount she’s paid? (And with no one else who worked that day, including the actors and the crew who aren’t complaining.) I’d be there for way longer than that! Hell, a friend of mine is a new resident and working 30-hour shifts and being paid maybe $12/hour?

  7. wif says:

    Acting is a lot of “hurry-up and wait”, so I can see being frustrated with it after 17 hours. It can get really dull between takes. But I do agree that she should be grateful for what she’s got, considering she’ll only have it for a few more years.

  8. Nebraska says:

    The rotten entitlement attitude is poisoning Ms. Heigl’s looks and I’m sure there are alot of folks out there who would love to have her job.

  9. ! says:

    My sentiments too wif. It *does* get dull and of course everyone has something to complain about…but she should know better.

  10. Call Me Al says:

    GET OVER YOURSELF HEIGL! The brown hair looks bad too.

  11. icky says:

    her mouth looks inflated and weird and the brown hair looks fake and ugly..she used the wrong shade for her skin tone..Heigl- your stylist must hate you

  12. Jobie says:

    I hate her. I wish that she were the one off the show and T.R. was coming back. I stopped watching the show last year because of her, I was hopping that she was gone so that I can stomach watching it again.

  13. Ggirl says:

    Heigl seems to have no problem expressing her “feelings” whether they are at an appropriate time or not. True sign of a narcissist. I am sure that she does not allows to return the favor at her expense.

  14. BOGART4017 says:

    Yeah yeah yeah. These crying ass rich people get on my damn nerves. Why don’t you just quit and get a job working for the county parks and recreation department. They have great benefits, wonderful pay and carry-over sick days!

  15. jeri says:

    My husband and I stopped watching the show 3 yrs ago mostly because her moronic character on the show got on our nerves. We were thinking about starting back watching this coming season but that didn’t “kill” her off like we heard might happen.

  16. Neelyo says:

    A few weeks ago I was flipping channels and came across a sequel to ROMY AND MICHELLE’S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION. Who knew, right? Well Ms. Heigl was one of the stars of this Straight to DVD disaster which came out in 2006. That’s not that long ago. Someone better be careful or she’ll be starring in the third installment.

    I know people admire her for her frankness and willingness to say what’s on her mind, but all it’s proved to me is that there’s not much there besides ingratitude.

  17. Hieronymus Grex says:

    Yeah Katherine, people invariably have a bad reaction to co-workers scheming and scamming behind their backs, regardless of how cute you might look.

  18. katie says:

    i think her hair is more on the red side.

  19. lucy says:

    I have to agree, fiestarter.
    Honesty is one thing, but constantly bitching and complaining about stuff most people would only dream about gets old fast. She can complain about her hours to her family and friends all she wants, but don’t go on national TV and whine about it to the general public, where so many people are struggling just to keep a roof over their heads and take care of their kids. There are so many working a lot harder for a LOT less. She needs to remind herself how fortunate she has been in her career, and be grateful for the opportunity to work in a profession she loves and gets very well paid for. If only we were all so lucky!
    I’d also recommend that she be careful not to be too “honest” about the work she gets, because it’s a fickle business and if she continues to gripe about everything she’s involved in, she might find herself sitting home with nothing to do.

  20. archiepelago says:

    Someone once told me that the worse behaved an actor is, the more attention they get from producers etc.. it’s a strange thing. My thought is, be careful how you treat people on the way up because on the way down, they won’t be there to catch you when you fall.

  21. CeeJay says:

    Ahh, she’s still up to her “let me out of this rotten contract” antics. It’s not enough that she pretty much single handedly killed the viewer ratings of this show (started with her sabotage of Isaiah Washington), she’s now going to bitch about 17 hour days?

    She clearly wants to be totally free to enjoy the common leisure of certain movie shoots. Those contracts guarantee a certain amount of downtime and the leading star typically dictates the speed, or lack thereof, the filming.

    I say so long. Nobodies watching Greys anymore anyway.

  22. aflo says:

    I USED TO REALLY LIKE “IZZY,” BUT NOW THAT I SEE THE PERSON SHE REALLY IS, IM NOT SURE ABOUT HER FUTURE ON GREY’S ANATOMY. I LOVE TO WATCH THE SHOW AND IM REALLY DISAPPOINTED THAT T.R. IS LEAVING, BUT HES GOING TO FULFILL A DREAM AND I BET HE WONT BE COMPALINING ABOUT IT!!!

  23. the original kate says:

    she should suck it up and be a professional. she sounds spoiled…i’m sure the crew had to be on the set just as long.

  24. mxml says:

    what an ingrate!

  25. hello! says:

    ugh, she makes me want to vomit. I used to like her, but this constant bitching about problems I can only dream about . . . ugh.

  26. Marla says:

    oh poor thing she has to work, that must be sooo difficult. How much does she get paid to work? completely ungrateful, she should feel fortunate. I do and I make 50k a year and I work 12 hours day…..some people can barely make ends meet.

  27. la chica says:

    I hope they NEVER let her out of her contract. I hope she is forced to do this show for as long as it is on the air. That is the perfect punishment for this ungrateful biyatch.

  28. anon says:

    @ aflo- turn off your caps lock , you psycho.

  29. connie says:

    in addition to the fact that she probably had an extremely comfortable 17-hour day, how many long hours can she honestly work a week? a month, or in a year? I may be wrong but I’m sure she’s not working anywhere near 40-60 hours a week, in addition to school, raising a family etc.

  30. Aspie says:

    She’s such a stuck up, overrated, self-righteous broad! I couldn’t stand her when she went overboard in trying to denigrate Isaiah Washington after his fight with Patrick Dempsey and calling TR the “f” word (even though he apologized a million times), and I can’t stand her now! Even after Isaiah apologized to her and worked with GLAAD, she still continued to bitch and moan about him, as if she’s so perfect herself.

    She’s also not that great of an actress and tends to play the same uptight and stuck up characters, which I’m sure is not a huge stretch for her to do since she already seems that way in general.

  31. lasbck says:

    so i guess we’re all just going to ignore when she said,
    “It was actually kind of really great to be back,” she said. “All my friends are there and at this point, they’re sort of like family, but it was a little weird because [T.R.]’s not there anymore”

    ?