Katherine Heigl has been acting in Hollywood for decades now, but she’s still probably best known for her breakout role as Dr. Izzie Stevens in ABC’s medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. Even though she hasn’t appeared on the show since her unfortunate departure in 2010, Heigl still interacts with grateful fans when they stop her when she’s out and about. However, in recent years, some fan interactions have turned into a humbling and awkward experience for the Emmy Award-winning actress.
During Variety’s Actors on Actors session, Heigl sat down with her fellow Grey’s Anatomy co-star Ellen Pompeo to reflect on their once-in-a-lifetime experience on the show and how wild it is to see a new generation of fans — some who weren’t even born when the series first premiered — fall in love with the show. The conversation led Heigl to recall a particular run-in with a young fan.
This man comes up to me and goes... 'Excuse me, I'm sorry, but my daughter is such a... You know... she's kind of freaking out over here. Would you mind talking to her for a minute?' And I was like, 'Yeah, of course!'
Finding her courage, the young fan approached the Knocked Up star and immediately started fumbling over her words.
You know, she goes 'um... are you... do you know Grey's Anatomy?' And I was like... 'I do... yeah' And she goes, 'do you know, um, Izzie Stevens?' And I go, 'yes."
As Heigl tells the story, it's clear she was riding the high of getting to interact with a new fan of the hit show. After all, most actors love knowing their work stands the test of time. Unfortunately, the sweet encounter turned awkward when the fan asked:
'Are you her [Dr. Izzie Stevens] mother?'
Pompeo immediately started laughing as Heigl recounted the rest of the awkward interaction, joking:
I was like 'how old are you?' And she was like, 'I'm 17.' I was like, 'go away.' Don't ever talk to me again.
Hopefully the incident hasn't happened to her again, but it sounds so humbling. Sure, teenagers aren’t the best when it comes to deciphering ages and the passing of time, but realizing you have aged up so much a teenager no longer recognizes you probably doesn't feel amazing. I will say we should cut the young fan some slack since streaming services don’t always make the original air date of a show easily accessible, so who knows? The fan might have just assumed they were watching something new.
Speaking of time passing, it’s been 16 years since Heigl last graced the halls of Seattle Grace, after leaving on not-great terms. While the 27 Dresses star has no plans to return to the show that’s headed into its historic 23rd season, she did reunite with some of the original cast at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2024.
When Grey’s Anatomy returns to the 2026 TV schedule on Thursday, October 15th, it will boast several familiar faces, including Pompeo returning as Dr. Meredith, despite her being absent from the cast celebration photo posted when filming first started. As for Heigl, she has mostly recently been seen on the Netflix book-to-screen adaptation, Firefly Lane.
Like the teen in question, you can stream both Grey's Anatomy and Heigl's Firefly Lane with an active Netflix subscription.
