Katherine Heigl Admits Leaving ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Was A ‘Blur’: My ‘Level Of Anxiety’ Was ‘Too High’

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Image Credit: Greg Swales for Variety

Katherine Heigl and Ellen Pompeo beryllium down for the archetypal clip successful 13 years to sermon their clip connected Grey’s Anatomy and the fame that followed for Variety’s Actors connected Actors series. During their candid conversation, Katie addressed however she was feeling erstwhile she left the show successful 2010.

Ellen Pompeo and Katherine Heigl connected the screen of ‘Variety.’ (Greg Swales for Variety)

“I was up present successful my head, successful my gut, successful my mind, successful my life. I was conscionable vibrating astatine mode excessively precocious of a level of anxiety,” Katherine said. “For me, it’s each a spot of a blur, and it took maine years to larn however to woody with that, to maestro it. I can’t adjacent accidental that I’ve mastered it, but to adjacent cognize to enactment connected it, that anxiousness and fearfulness — and accent is stress. And if you permission accent excessively long, unmanaged, and unaddressed, it tin beryllium debilitating.”

In the aboriginal years of the amusement erstwhile Grey’s Anatomy archetypal became a planetary improvement aft its debut successful 2005, Ellen, 53, noted that it “felt similar determination was a batch of attraction connected everything we did each the time, and everything was amplified. And that added to the emotion and someway that made the scenes amended and that made the amusement amended and that made the amusement much popular.”

Katherine’s Dr. Izzie Stevens exited the bid successful 2010 during play 6. At the time, Grey’s Anatomy was embroiled successful behind-the-scenes drama. The Emmy victor was vocal astir her opinions — similar withdrawing herself from Emmys information and the show’s grueling hours — and stood up for her friends, including co-star T.R. Knight. Despite her bully intentions, the histrion was labeled a “diva.”

The Firefly Lane prima told Ellen, “I was truthful naive. I got connected my soapbox and I had immoderate things to say, and I felt truly passionate astir this stuff. I felt truly strongly. I felt truthful powerfully that I besides got a megaphone retired connected my soapbox. There was nary portion of maine that imagined a atrocious reaction. I felt truly justified successful however I felt astir it and wherever I was coming from. I’ve spent astir of my beingness — I deliberation astir women bash — being successful that people-pleasing mode. It’s truly disconcerting erstwhile you consciousness similar you person truly displeased everybody.”

Katherine Heigl arsenic Izzie Stevens connected ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’ (ABC/Everett Collection)

The 44-year-old continued, “It was not my volition to bash so, but I had immoderate things to say, and I didn’t deliberation I was going to get specified a beardown reaction. I was successful my precocious 20s. It took maine until astir apt my mid-to late-30s to truly get backmost to tuning retired each of the sound and going, ‘But who are you? Are you this atrocious person? Are you ungrateful? Are you unprofessional? Are you difficult?’ Because I was confused! I thought possibly I was. I virtually believed that version, and felt specified shame for specified a agelong time, and past had to go, ‘Wait. Who americium I listening to? I’m not adjacent listening to myself. I cognize who I am.'”

Katherine has not returned to the bid since her departure successful 2010. However, the quality of Izzie Stevens has not been forgotten. Alex Karev notably reunited with Izzie offscreen when Justin Chambers near the show successful 2020.

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