Katherine Heigl could have been the next Meg Ryan, Hollywood’s new rom-com sweetheart. She was beautiful in an approachable way and could break our hearts with one crooked, well placed smile.
But the “Grey’s Anatomy” standout trashed the movie that started her big screen career, “Knocked Up,” and caused a ruckus on the set of her ABC hit series by pulling herself out of Emmy competition because she didn’t think she was given award-winning material.
She’s been doing damage control ever since.
How far has she fallen? Her latest film, “One for the Money,” opens tomorrow without critical reviews. That’s a sign the studio knows it has a clunker on its hands. Making matters worse, the discount company GroupOn is offering special deals on “Money” to help boost the film’s opening weekend ticket sales.
Last weekend, Heigl appeared on the cover of USA Weekend looking prim and apologetic next to a dog. She’s practically begging audiences to reconsider her as a movie star, but it didn’t have to go down this way.
It all started shortly after “Knocked Up” became a hit. Heigl told Vanity Fair magazine the film felt “a little sexist” for portraying women as humorless and men as lovable rogues. Young stars should avoid trashing their ex-bosses at all costs, especially on a project like “Knocked Up” which she could have simply passed on in the first place.
Competition is fierce in Hollywood, and getting labeled as either “difficult” or “ungrateful” might be the quickest way to curb one’s career ascent.
Heigl admits she has a big mouth, and it’s clear she’s a little older, and quite a bit wiser, at this stage of her career. But “it” actresses come with a painfully short shelf life. Hollywood quickly moves on to the next young lovely, and at 33 Heigl is now just another actress fighting for the few good parts.