Katherine Heigl's journey to CBS pilot 'Our Home' has not been a joyride but we are glad she made it
Katherine Heigl's latest job is getting back into the comedy series scene, something we haven't seen from the 'Knocked Up' actress in a while. The '27 Dresses' star has been cast as the female lead in the CBS comedy pilot 'Our House' where she will be playing the new mother Bridget, who tries her best to be a progressive and chilled out mom but finds herself often failing miserably.
Heigl will be starring opposite 'Timeless' star Malcolm Barrett, who will be playing Shawn, Bridget's ultra cool and patient-therapist husband.
Although Heigl made a comeback with 'Suits' last year and nailed the role of fierce corporate lawyer Samantha Wheeler, this is the first time we will be seeing her make a comeback to her comedy roots in a major role.
Samantha and Joy’s tag-team takedown was seriously impressive. This is your Suits moment of the week, presented by @Lexus. pic.twitter.com/P7t3ZXAfAM
— Suits (@Suits_USA) August 16, 2018
Heigl reigned the romantic comedy scene at one point with films like 'The Ugly Truth', '27 Dresses', 'Life As We Know it', 'New Year's Eve', and the likes, but things went downhill for her career after she called out her 2007 film 'Knocked Up' for "being a little sexist" to Vanity Fair.
"It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. It exaggerated the characters, and I had a hard time with it, on some days. I’m playing such a b*tch; why is she being such a killjoy? Why is this how you’re portraying women? Ninety-eight percent of the time it was an amazing experience, but it was hard for me to love the movie," she had told the magazine back then and she wasn't far from the truth.
The film was indeed a series of jokes we've all heard before. Writer and director Judd Apatow and actor Seth Rogan who starred opposite Heigl weren't too pleased by the comments and neither was the rest of the world. Heigl was tagged as someone who was difficult to work with. And even though she went on record to apologize for what she had said later, the damage had already been done. In a way, Heigl was a woman ahead of her times. Imagine if she had said the same thing today — would the world have judged her as harshly as it did then? Definitely not.
The same year as she made remarks on 'Knocked Up', Heigl declined an Emmys consideration for her role on 'Grey's Anatomy'.
Her reason behind saying no was seen as diva-like back then in 2008 when she said, "I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination. In an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention," admitted Heigl adding, "In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials." If this move was done today, Twitter would have erupted with cheers for the actress.
Then in 2009, she was tagged as someone who was too pricey. For 'Valentine's Day', the 2010 romantic comedy that starred the likes of Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner, who were at the peak of their breakout phase at the time, she was said to have asked for $3 million as a fee. New Line, which produced the film is said to have called her demands "ridiculous" and that no one else was asking for that much money. But here we are in 2019, with Gal Gadot, Claire Foy, Catt Sadler, Oprah Winfrey, Amy Schumer, Priyanka Chopra and dozens of others talking about equal pay and the wage gap that persists between men and women in Hollywood. What was so wrong with asking for the salary you think you deserve? According to these 2009 reports, a lot apparently.
Heigl's climb back to the top was definitely a struggle with her just starring in sidekick roles like her 'Suits' stint. Then, there were shows like 'Doubt' and 'State of Affairs' that got canceled after just a season. Her films too were independent productions that struggled to make ends meet, like 'Jenny's Wedding' and 'Home Sweet Hell', which was thrashed by critics. But clearly, times are changing for her proving that no matter how turbulent a storm is if you keep going, it will always pass.
