LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: After winning an Emmy Award for her role as Dr Izzie Stevens on 'Grey's Anatomy' in 2007, Katherine Heigl made the decision not to put herself forward for consideration the following year. She believed that she hadn't been given material worthy of such an accolade and grappled with doubts about her choice, questioning whether she was a "bad person". It took her several years to come to terms with her decision and its aftermath.
During a conversation with her former co-star Ellen Pompeo on Variety's 'Actors on Actors,' Katherine opened up about her mindset at the time. "There was no part of me that imagined a bad reaction. I felt really justified in how I felt about it and where I was coming from. I’ve spent most of my life — I think most women do — being in that people-pleasing mode.
‘Are you this bad person?’
She further stated, “It’s really disconcerting when you feel like you have really displeased everybody. It was not my intention to do so, but I had some things to say, and I didn’t think I was going to get such a strong reaction".
"It took me until probably my mid- to late-30s to really get back to tuning out all of the noise and going, 'But who are you? Are you this bad person? Are you ungrateful? Are you unprofessional? Are you difficult?' Because I was confused! I thought maybe I was. I literally believed that version, and felt such shame for such a long time, and then had to go, 'Wait. Who am I listening to? I’m not even listening to myself. I know who I am.'"
‘Too high of a level of anxiety’
Katherine revealed that she was dealing with anxiety during that period, and looking back, it all feels like a blur to her. However, over the years, she has learned how to focus on her mental health and work on herself.
Reflecting on her journey, Katherine's decision not to pursue another Emmy nomination was a significant moment that led her to confront her own feelings and work on her well-being. She continued saying, "I was just vibrating at way too high of a level of anxiety. For me, it’s all a bit of a blur, and it took me years to learn how to deal with that, to master it. I can’t even say that I’ve mastered it, but to even know to work on it, that anxiety and fear — and stress is stress. And if you leave stress too long, unmanaged and unaddressed, it can be debilitating."
