Behind-the-Scenes "Insanity" That Pushed Grey's Anatomy Star to Leave the Show
Grey's Anatomy's Katherine Heigl opened up about her decision to leave the medical show, said she wished to revisit it.
Season 19 of Grey's Anatomy has brought bad news for all medical drama fans. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), the last original intern standing, has left Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital to research Alzheimer's with the Catherine Fox Foundation in Boston. With her leaving the show, it is interesting to remember the circumstances surrounding the exits of the other four original interns, especially those caused by behind-the-scenes drama.
Thus Katherine Heigl, an actress behind fan-favorite Izzie Stevens, recently opened up about her decision to exit Grey's Anatomy in an interview with SiriusXM host Bevy Smith. The Emmy-winning actress shared that her experience on the set of the ABC show was far from perfect, but she still wished to be able to go back and revisit her decision.
Though at the time of her exit, Heigl revealed (via) that her decision was mainly driven by her wish to focus on a family life instead of working a full-time job, now the actress says there was more to it.
Heigl told Bevy Smith that working on the show was too intense for the young actress she was back then. The intensity was breaking her mentally, she experienced "heightened anxiety," and even got mentally sick.
"Like, if I could have found a way to work within it, that could have also worked for me. But I only saw it as this one thing: I was up here at a level of intensity that was not healthy for me."
This couldn't go on any longer, so the actress left the show after Season 6, 18 months prior to her contract ending. But it was not a balanced decision, the actress admits.
Looking back, Heigl wishes she would have calmed down and talked to the show's creators about her decision instead of "fleeing in a panic."
According to the actress, she never discussed the possibility of appearing in fewer episodes or reducing her working time in any other way, which could help solve the problem of "insane" pace and let fans enjoy the company of their beloved character a little longer.
It is not the first time the actress speaks up about the toxic work environment on the set of Grey's Anatomy. Heigl discussed the medical show's stars being forced to work 17 hours a day with David Letterman back in 2009 and remembered the insane working hours again while supporting Hollywood's IATSE strike via her Instagram. Earlier this year, her claims were confirmed by Ellen Pompeo.