The 2000s—and the decade’s post-feminist attitudes—were not a particularly good time to be a woman.
Case in point: low-rise jeans… and, well, being Katherine Heigl.
However, Josh Duhamelwho co-starred with Heigl in 2010’s “Life as We Know It” and 2011’s “New Year’s Eve,” expressed his affection for his co-star during an appearance on the “Chicks in the Office” podcast.
The “Shotgun Wedding” star was asked by the podcast hosts if he had a favorite on-screen kiss or if he had particularly strong chemistry with one of his previous co-stars.
In response, Duhamel sidestepped the question somewhat and instead spoke highly of some of his female co-stars, such as Elisha Cuthbert (with whom he worked on 2022’s “Bandit”) and Kate Bosworth (with whom he worked in Win a Date with 2004). ). ). Tad Hamilton!”).
“Katie Heigl gets a bad rap, but she’s amazing,” Josh said. “She is big.”
“He probably said some things he wishes he could take back,” she added. “But my experience… on screen or off screen [experience] he was wonderful with her.”
Heigl’s tendency to speak candidly and critically about some of her popular projects in the 2000s derailed her career for several years, thanks to a backlash tinged by the misogynistic attitudes of the time.
Heigl first made waves in 2008 when she failed to make a name for herself for an Emmy. for his work on “Grey’s Anatomy.”
“I didn’t feel like I was given the material this season to get an Emmy nomination, and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization,” he chose not to compete, he said in a statement At this point. “Besides, I didn’t want to take a chance on an actress who was being offered this kind of material.”
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In 2016, Heigl explained to Howard Stern who initially didn’t think anyone would notice that she quietly passed up Emmy consideration, but felt compelled to make a statement after reporters noticed her omission. She told the radio host that once the story broke, she was “very embarrassed” and personally apologized to “Grey’s Anatomy” showrunner Shonda Rhimes.
Despite all of this, Heigl was quickly labeled as “ungrateful” and “difficult to work withby the media, and subsequent stories about her cast her in a negative light.
Then in 2008, when he dared to point out Vanity Fair while she felt her 2007 hit comedy Knocked Up was “a bit sexist,” amid the cultural adoration that blossomed for the film’s creator, Judd Apatow, Heigl was quickly blacklisted in Hollywood. Her co-star Seth Rogen even admitted in 2016 that he felt “betrayed” by his remarks.
Still, by today’s standards, Heigl’s criticism of “Knocked Up” seems entirely valid.
“It portrays women as humorless shrews and men as nice, goofy, fun-loving guys,” Heigl told Vanity Fair in 2007. “I had a hard time loving the movie.”
In 2021, Heigl told the Washington Post that the reaction really affected his mental health.
“I asked my mom and my husband to find me a place to go that would help me because I felt like I’d rather be dead,” she said. “I didn’t realize how much anxiety I was dealing with until it got so bad that I really had to seek help.”
“She may have said a few things you didn’t like, but then it went to ‘she’s ungrateful’, then to ‘it’s difficult,’ and that went to ‘that’s not professional,'” she added. “What is your definition of difficult? Someone with an opinion you don’t like? I’m 42 now, and it makes me angry.”
