EW’s gradual reveal of this week’s cover story, in which Katherine Heigl apologizes for everything she has ever done (save for The Ugly Truth), continues today with an excerpt on Michael Ausiello’s blog. To set it up, Ausiello describes Heigl’s modest home (or at least the modest home she borrowed for purposes related to the interview), and says she was doing the dishes (or doing something in the sink, anyway — drowning puppies, presumably) when he arrived. Katherine Heigl, we want to forgive you! But you need to start giving better apology interviews than this! After the jump, the four least-convincing parts.
4. What of reports that Heigl refused to come to the Grey’s Anatomy set on March 1 as she was scheduled to? Untrue! She was simply sitting at home on the day she was due back, waiting for Shonda Rhimes to tell her it was okay not to come:
I went on my family leave and spent three months in Utah and just got to be a mom, and it changed my whole perspective… That was really the turning point for me. So before I was due back, I spoke again to Shonda about wanting to leave. Then I waited at home until I was given the formal okay that I was off the show. The rumors that I refused to return were totally untrue.
3. Was her departure amicable? Yes, says Heigl, who claims she tried to stay with the show, but couldn’t because she didn’t want to spend time away from her new daughter. (The five upcoming movies IMDb says she’s starring in must all be set in nurseries):
I think it was a little bit shocking for everybody, and a little bit like, “Can’t we find a way to work it out?” And I really wanted to, but at the same time, I just felt like I couldn’t sacrifice my relationship with my child.
2.According to Heigl, everyone agreed that bringing Dr. Izzie back after a three-month break would have felt “a little manipulative.” And manipulation is strictly off-limits on Grey’s Anatomy, as you know.
I felt [leaving abruptly] was the right thing to do; we just didn’t quite know how to do it appropriately, gracefully, and respectfully to the audience. And I think we all felt it wasn’t respectful to the audience to bring [Izzie] back again and then have her [leave] again. We did it twice this season. It starts to feel a little manipulative.
1. Does Heigl regret claiming her withdrawal from the 2008 Emmy race was because “I did not feel I was given the material this season to warrant a nomination”?
Yes. [Laughs]
Exclusive: Katherine Heigl on being ‘disappointed’ in herself and the truth behind Emmygate [Ausiello Files/EW]
