Katherine Heigl

Heigl began working as a child model after an aunt photographed her for a hair-care advertisement. She signed with Wilhelmina Models at age nine and appeared in magazine advertisements, Sears and Lord & Taylor catalogs, and a national Cheerios television commercial.

She made her film debut in That Night in 1992 and appeared in Steven Soderbergh’s King of the Hill the following year. Her first leading film role came in My Father the Hero in 1994, followed by appearances in Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, Wish Upon a Star, The Tempest, and Bride of Chucky.

Heigl grew up primarily in New Canaan, Connecticut, and continued attending high school while working in film and modeling. After graduating in 1997, she moved to the Los Angeles area to pursue acting more fully, with her mother, Nancy Heigl, managing her career.

In 1999, Heigl was cast as Isabel Evans in the science-fiction series Roswell. The role made her widely recognizable as part of the show’s central trio of alien-human hybrids, alongside Jason Behr and Brendan Fehr. She remained with the series through its three-season run, which ended in 2002.

During and after Roswell, Heigl continued appearing in films and television projects. Her credits included the independent film 100 Girls, the horror movie Valentine, the television thriller Critical Assembly, an episode of The Twilight Zone, and the television films Love Comes Softly and Love’s Enduring Promise.

Her early television work also included Wish Upon a Star, The Tempest, Evil Never Dies, Wuthering Heights, and Romy and Michele: In the Beginning. These projects allowed her to move between fantasy, horror, drama, and comedy before her breakthrough on network television.

Heigl joined Grey’s Anatomy in 2005 as Dr. Isobel “Izzie” Stevens, a surgical intern whose storylines became central to the medical drama. The series was an immediate ratings success, and the role brought Heigl major recognition. She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2007.

Her success on television was followed by a major film breakthrough in Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up in 2007. Heigl played Alison Scott opposite Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann. The film became a critical and commercial success and established her as a leading performer in romantic comedy.

She followed Knocked Up with 27 Dresses, starring opposite James Marsden, and executive-produced the film Side Effects. Her other major projects from this period included The Ugly Truth with Gerard Butler, Killers with Ashton Kutcher, and Life as We Know It with Josh Duhamel.

Heigl left Grey’s Anatomy in 2010 after playing Izzie Stevens for six seasons. She later expressed regret about leaving and discussed the possibility of returning to complete the character’s story, although she did not rejoin the series.

After Grey’s Anatomy, Heigl continued to lead romantic comedies, including New Year’s Eve, One for the Money, and The Big Wedding. She played Stephanie Plum, a novice bounty hunter, in One for the Money, which was adapted from Janet Evanovich’s novel.

Heigl later acknowledged that she had taken on too many romantic comedies in succession and began pursuing a wider range of material. Her projects included the romantic drama Jackie & Ryan, the dark comedy Home Sweet Hell, and the independent film Jenny’s Wedding.

She also provided the voice of Andie the squirrel in the animated films The Nut Job and The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature. In the thriller Unforgettable, she played Tessa Connover, a divorced woman who torments her former husband’s new fiancée.

Heigl returned to dramatic television as the lead of NBC’s State of Affairs, in which she also served as an executive producer. She later played defense attorney Sadie Ellis in the CBS legal drama Doubt, which ran for one season.

From 2018 to 2019, she played Samantha Wheeler, a new partner at the fictional law firm of Zane Specter Litt, in the final two seasons of the USA Network legal drama Suits. The role marked a return to a prominent serialized television production after several film-led projects.

Heigl starred as Tully Hart in Netflix’s Firefly Lane, adapted from Kristin Hannah’s novel, alongside Sarah Chalke and Ben Lawson. She also served as an executive producer on the series, which ran from 2021 to 2023. She is set to star as Victoria Woodhull in the limited series Woodhull, a project on which she is also an executive producer.

Heigl reunited with Ellen Pompeo in 2023 for Variety Studio: Actors on Actors, where they discussed their time on Grey’s Anatomy and Heigl’s departure from the series. In 2024, Heigl joined Pompeo, Chandra Wilson, Justin Chambers, and James Pickens Jr. at the Primetime Emmy Awards to present an award.

Heigl became engaged to singer Josh Kelley in 2006 after meeting him on the set of his music video for “Only You.” They married on December 23, 2007, in Park City, Utah.

Heigl and Kelley have three children. They adopted a daughter from South Korea in 2009, adopted a second daughter from the United States in 2012, and welcomed a biological son in December 2016.

Heigl has supported animal welfare through Best Friends Animal Society and its Pup My Ride program, which transports dogs from high-kill shelters to areas where they can be adopted. She and Nancy Heigl also founded Heigl’s Hounds of Hope, a program of the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation that rescues and rehabilitates larger dogs with behavioral problems.

In 2008, Heigl and her mother co-founded the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation, named for Heigl’s late brother. The organization focuses on rescuing dogs, preventing animal cruelty, and supporting spay and neuter efforts. Heigl received the ASPCA Presidential Service Award in 2010.

Heigl is also an advocate for adoption, fostering, and organ donation. Her family donated Jason’s organs after his death, an experience that influenced her later work promoting organ and tissue donation.