Katherine Heigl’s Departure from Grey’s: Is She Sincere?

Recently, fans of Grey’s Anatomy were shocked to see Katherine Heigl departing the medical drama and, well, not coming back.

Heigl’s contract was not due to finish for another 18 months, but after asking repeatedly to leave, the show’s creator, Shonda Reimes, finally let her go – despite the fact that she was scheduled to appear in the last five episodes of the season.

The media world was awash with rumours over Heigl’s sudden departure – with reports ranging from a mutual parting to Heigl just not showing up for work.

An interview with E! managed to clear up a lot of the confusion – and partially helped the shocked fans. I know that as a dedicated Grey’s watcher, I did feel that we deserved a little more than just a – ‘hey! What just happened there?’ storyline.

In Katherine’s interview with Ausiello, (which you can read in full at http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/04/07/greys-anatomy-katherine-heigl-cover-story/), Heigl appears to mainly be milking the new-mommy card, dressing uber-‘uncelebrity’ in “capri jeans and a purple cardigan, with her newly darkened locks pulled back.” She humbly goes through the interview, essentially apologizing for her controversial six years at Grey’s, and trying to explain why she just ditched the show and her fans.

Reading the interview, I have to say, I was only partially convinced. I have never been a huge fan of Heigl’s – she can come across as kind of obnoxious and ungrateful, at least to me. I mean, when you’re earning that much money and get to be a huge star, why would you complain? But she did, on Letterman back a few years ago about the “hours and storylines” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4JS0MVUweg), and again, this year, in a huge scandal for the Grey’s production team. You can see the interview below – her big moments come at around 1:07.

The scandal with this interview was all because actually, the 17 hour day was supposedly down to her – allegedly, production had to reshuffle the times to accommodate Heigl’s busy schedule promoting The Ugly Truth. Hmmm… but apart from that, I have to say, the rest of the interview is rather funny, and she obviously has wit and intelligence – just maybe a bit of a diva attitude at times.

But despite how you might feel about Heigl, there definitely is a shift in feeling to the Grey’s cast without George or Izzie – although it’s not necessarily bad. Just different. What do you guys think?

Catch Grey’s Anatomy Thursdays 9/8c on ABC