The Tragic Life Of Katherine Heigl

Katherine Heigl rose to fame as Dr. Izzy Stevens on the long-running hit series "Grey's Anatomy" and continued to enjoy success in the film world with her starring roles in "Knocked Up" and "27 Dresses," returning to the small screen in the series "Firefly Lane." Along the way, the outspoken actor gained a reputation for being difficult to work with, something that never sat well with her. "I may have said a couple of things you didn't like, but then that escalated to 'she's ungrateful,' then that escalated to 'she's difficult,' and that escalated to 'she's unprofessional,'" she said in a 2021 interview with The Washington Post. "What is your definition of difficult? Somebody with an opinion that you don't like?"

Grappling with the fallout associated with her reputation, although it had a negative impact on her mental health, was far from the only obstacle Heigl had to face in her life. The actor is no stranger to tragedy, as she experienced health issues, family struggles, tremendous loss, and career ups and downs. Through it all, Heigl has maintained her strength of character and has continued to advocate for herself and others. Read on to learn more about the tragic life of Katherine Heigl.

A real-life tragedy rocked Katherine Heigl's life when she was still a child. Her upbringing had all the makings of an idyllic life in the affluent town of New Canaan, Connecticut, with her parents, two brothers, and her adopted sister. But Katherine's childhood was shattered when she was just 7 years old when her brother Jason Heigl died in a horrific car accident.

After Katherine and her mother, Nancy Heigl, had been out running errands one day, they returned home only to receive a call from a family friend who wanted to offer her condolences. "That's how we found out," the actor told Vanity Fair. "He made a really terrible decision to sit in the back of a pickup truck; a young girl was driving, it was raining, and she hit a patch of road that was slippery with wet leaves," she recalled. Jason suffered a traumatic brain injury and died a week later.

Katherine's parents turned to the Mormon Church in the wake of the tragedy, but Katherine was so young she couldn't make sense of the loss. "I didn't really understand death, so it was very confusing for me," she revealed, going on to express that the hardest part for her was seeing the effect Jason's death had on the rest of the family. "They weren't the same people anymore," she said. "Everything was kind of a mess for a while." 

Throughout Katherine Heigl's life and career her mother, Nancy Heigl, has been her biggest supporter as well as her manager. The two women share a strong bond that seems to have been forged when Katherine was a child. "My mother has been my mentor, my protector, my nurturer, my friend and my partner every one of my 41 years," the actor captioned a sweet Instagram pic in honor of Mother's Day in 2020. While Nancy has stuck by her daughter's side for many years, there was a time when Katherine was the one providing emotional support for her mom.

When Katherine was 17 years old, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She required treatment via chemotherapy as well as a mastectomy. Although Katherine was just a teenager, she made sure to be there for her mom, going with her to her chemotherapy sessions. The cancer diagnosis coincided with Katherine's parents' separation, which was likely yet another strain on a family who had already been through so much. "It was drama after drama after drama," Katherine told Vanity Fair.

Thankfully, Nancy's treatments worked and she went on to guide Katherine through the ups and downs of her acting career, something Katherine is immensely grateful for. "She has protected me my whole career, and many, many young women in Hollywood did not have what I had," the actor shared with "Today."

In 2007, Katherine Hegel married her husband, musician Josh Kelley. Two years later they became parents when they welcomed their first child, Naleigh, who they adopted from South Korea. Heigl's sister, Meg, was adopted as well, which is partly why Heigl chose that route to parenthood. "I wanted my own family to resemble the one I came from, so I always knew I wanted to adopt from Korea," the actor shared with Scholastic.

But bonding with Naleigh initially proved to be challenging for Heigl for several reasons. For one, Naleigh seemed more drawn to Heigl's husband, which was not unusual, but painful nonetheless. "Our social worker told us that it's pretty typical for kids to react differently to their new mother," Heigl explained. "It was a struggle for me because all I wanted to do was bond with her."

The other issue was that Heigl's work schedule made it nearly impossible for her to spend the amount of time she wanted with her daughter in the months following her adoption. "I never saw that baby," Heigl revealed during an emotional appearance on "The View." "I was at work with three triplets who were playing my goddaughter, and I spent more time with them than I did with my new daughter." Eventually, Heigl found balance between her career and family, and she and Kelley welcomed two more children, Adalaide who was adopted in 2012, and Joshua who was born in 2017.

Though she found immense success in the '00s thanks to the series "Grey's Anatomy" and films like "Knocked Up," Katherine Heigl was said to be difficult to work with. That reputation began to gain momentum in 2008, which was the same year she decided not to submit her work on "Grey's Anatomy" for Emmy consideration. "I didn't feel good about my performance and ... there was a part of me that thought, because I had won the year before, that I needed juicy, dramatic, emotional material," the actor explained years later on "The Howard Stern Show."

Heigl's decision apparently angered the show's creator Shonda Rhimes, who took a dig at the actor during a 2014 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Rhimes spoke about her newer show "Scandal," saying, "the operation runs smoothly and the cast is tight-knit ... There are no Heigls in this situation." Heigl was understandably hurt by the comment and addressed it in a 2014 conversation with Mario Lopez on "Extra." "I watch 'Scandal' every week and so I'm sorry she's left with such a crappy impression of me," the actor said, adding, "I wish I could do something to change that."

In the 2007 comedy "Knocked Up," Katherine Heigl played a woman who gets pregnant during a one-night stand and decides to try to make things work with the baby's father, played by Seth Rogen. In a 2008 interview with Vanity Fair, Heigl later shared her not-so-glowing take on the film. As she told the outlet, she felt it was sexist and portrayed women in an unflattering light. "It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys," she said. "[I]t was hard for me to love the movie."

The film's director, Judd Apatow, and Rogen were clearly offended by Heigl's comments and aired their grievances on an episode of "The Howard Stern Show." "Seth always says, it doesn't make any sense [because] she improvised half her s***," Apatow said with a laugh. He also suggested that maybe Heigl had had a long day and was tired during her Vanity Fair interview, but Rogen chimed in to say, "I didn't slip and I was doing f***ing interviews all day too ... I didn't say s***!" Needless to say, the duo did not exactly try to squash the rumors about her reputation.

Amid the backlash she received from speaking her mind about "Knocked Up" and "Grey's Anatomy," Katherine Heigl began experiencing serious episodes of anxiety and depression, something she hadn't felt since her teens. "I think my family, my mother, my husband, my friends were scared ... But I just couldn't control it. I had no tools," she shared with The Washington Post in 2021.

After the birth of her son in 2017, Heigl's mental health became such an issue that she sought therapy and was subsequently treated with medication. "I asked my mom and my husband to find me somewhere to go that could help me because I felt like I would rather be dead," the actor revealed. Asking for help was the right move for Heigl, and while she tried organic ways to manage her anxious thoughts, she credited her medication for really helping her through the tough spots. "You can do a lot of inner soul work, but I'm a big fan of Zoloft," she said.

After the murder of George Floyd and the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement, Katherine Heigl had to have a difficult discussion with her kids about race. Heigl is the mother of three children, the eldest of whom is Korean and the second eldest is Black. As a white parent to non-white kids, the actor recognized how much her own privilege has shaped her worldview. "For all the obvious reasons, Josh [Kelley] and I felt like we had lived in a very light bubble our whole life. You don't even know that you are because it's just the world around you," she told People. She also noted that since her own sister was born in Korea, she had a "naive" perspective about race in America. "I even think when the girls came into our lives, I didn't assume everyone felt like I did, but I assumed the majority did — that the majority didn't see race and color," she said. "I didn't know how to have this conversation with my daughters."

To broach the subject, Heigl found TV shows and movies geared towards children that focused on racism. While watching a film with her kids that featured racist language, she took a moment to talk to her second eldest about what they'd heard. "I said, 'Adalaide, I want you to understand that if anybody ever spoke to you like that ... it has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with them." Adalaide's response was extremely heartening, proving that Heigl was on the right track in making sure her children grew up with a healthy sense of self-worth. "She said, 'Yeah, I know. I already know that I'm really beautiful and super cool,'" Heigl recalled.

In 2021, Katherine Heigl revealed that she was experiencing some health issues, namely a herniated disc in her neck. Apparently, the pain got so bad that she had to undergo surgery. In a lengthy Instagram post, Heigl shared that she had two titanium discs placed in her neck and thanked the doctors who helped her through the ordeal.

"I am so deeply deeply grateful to the incredible Dr's and care team that saved me from the most excruciating pain I have ever experienced and blessed me with a new pain free lease on life!" Heigl captioned a carousel of photos featuring one of her X-rays, a post-op selfie, and a pic of her sporting a very large neck brace.

Heigl went on to detail the excellent care she received from her medical team and gave a shoutout to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for helping to assuage her anxieties ahead of the invasive procedure. "Heading into surgery and hospital stays is always a bit scary and you guys could not have made me feel more comfortable or taken care of!," the actor wrote.

In 2024, Katherine Heigl opened up about experiencing the effects of perimenopause and voiced her frustration at the lack of information available to women about how to handle the hormonal changes. "You're kind of alone in it," the actor shared with People. "You're like, 'What's going on with me? What's going on with my body?' And the response is to it like, 'Oh, this is just what it is to get older.'" She went on to describe some of the symptoms she had experienced and how they made her feel like a person she didn't recognize. "The ups and downs in mood, the fatigue, the brain fog ... I just want to have my energy back and my clarity," Heigl explained.

As the newly minted brand ambassador for Poise, Heigl felt she could help erase some of the stigma that comes along with aging for women. "I am not okay with anybody out there feeling any kind of shame or embarrassment around this because it is such a natural progression of female existence...," the actor said, adding that she felt as though there should be more actionable help and advice available for women navigating the often challenging effects of perimenopause.

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.