More than a decade after actress Katherine Heigl was starting to be perceived as ‘difficult’ to work with, her one-time co-star Josh Duhamel is defending her.
Duhamel, 50, and Heigl, 44, starred together in the 2010 film Life As We Know It, which debuted months after her controversial exit from Grey’s Anatomy.
Duhamel appeared on the Chicks in the Office podcast on Sunday, where he revealed Heigl – who recently opened up about her battle with anxiety – was a pleasure to work with.
Josh defends: More than a decade after actress Katherine Heigl was starting to be perceived as ‘difficult’ to work with, her one-time co-star Josh Duhamel is defending her
Co-stars: Duhamel, 50, and Heigl, 44, starred together in the 2010 film Life As We Know It, which debuted months after her controversial exit from Grey’s Anatomy
‘Katie Heigl gets a bad rap, but she’s awesome. She’s great,’ Duhamel said during the podcast.
‘She probably said some things that she probably wishes she could’ve taken back but my experience, on and offscreen with her, was awesome,’ Duhamel said.
The film followed Eric (Duhamel) and Holly (Heigl) as two single friends who become the primary caregivers to a one-year-old girl after their mutual friends died in a car accident.
Great Katie: ‘Katie Heigl gets a bad rap, but she’s awesome. She’s great,’ Duhamel said during the podcast
Characters: The film followed Eric (Duhamel) and Holly (Heigl) as two single friends who become the primary caregivers to a one-year-old girl after their mutual friends died in a car accident
The film received tepid reviews (29% on Rotten Tomatoes) but it carved out a solid $105.7 million worldwide from a $38 million budget.
The film was directed by Greg Berlanti, who would go on to create the Arrowverse on The CW, and who said in a 2013 piece about Heigl’s floundering career that he would still work with her again after his experience with her on Life As We Know It.
‘I would work with her again in a heartbeat. She’s an amazing actress, and her in a TV show that’s a great idea and well executed would be something I would watch and would feel lucky to work on myself,’ he said.
Solid: The film received tepid reviews (29% on Rotten Tomatoes) but it carved out a solid $105.7 million worldwide from a $38 million budget
Life As We Know It executive producer Denise Di Novi also said she had a, ‘really good’ experience with Heigl, adding she was, ‘hardworking and dedicated.’
Heigl first took heat for comments about how ‘sexist’ her 2007 movie Knocked Up was, along with comments about her character Izzie’s direction in Grey’s Anatomy.
She also took heat for 2009 comments on David Letterman’s Late Show where she called the Grey’s Anatomy schedule, ‘cruel and mean’ – though Grey’s star Ellen Pompeo said in April 2022 her comments were, ‘100% honest.’
Sexist: Heigl first took heat for comments about how ‘sexist’ her 2007 movie Knocked Up was, along with comments about her character Izzie’s direction in Grey’s Anatomy
She reportedly didn’t show up to work in March 2010, which lead to Heigl and Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes coming to a quick agreement to release her from her contract.
Heigl addressed her supposedly ‘difficult’ nature in a 2021 interview with The Washington Post.
‘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.
‘What is your definition of difficult? Somebody with an opinion that you don’t like? Now, I’m 42, and that s**t pisses me off,’ she continued, adding, ‘At the time, I was just quickly told to shut the f**k up. The more I said I was sorry, the more they wanted it. The more terrified and scared I was of doing something wrong, the more I came across like I had really done something horribly wrong.’
Difficult: Heigl addressed her supposedly ‘difficult’ nature in a 2021 interview with The Washington Post
Things said: ‘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
