Katherine Heigl Still Remained Friends With These Grey's Anatomy Co-Stars

For a show with as many seasons as "Grey's Anatomy," it's inevitable that actors and characters would come and go. Now on its 18th season, only three of the original characters remain as regulars on the long-running medical drama. But, among the actors who've left the show, not many of them had a favorable exit. Katherine Heigl knows what that's like firsthand.

Heigl played Dr. Izzie Stevens on the show for six seasons, but things got ugly in her last few seasons when rumors of her being "difficult" started circulating. It was catalyzed by her refusal to participate in the Emmy nominations when she felt her performance in one particular season did not merit any nods. "I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination, to maintain the integrity of the academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention," Heigl said at the time. "In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials."

Heigl also said that she was beginning to feel disconnected from her character. "I felt very protective of Izzie," she told USA Today in 2010. "I really loved her. I felt she was an admirable woman who certainly made mistakes. But I was starting to not like her, and that bothered me." The actor soon left the show in Season 6, but that doesn't mean that she severed her relationships with the cast.

While Katherine Heigl didn't like how she departed from "Grey's Anatomy," she's glad that she has remained in contact with the cast, especially those she had grown close to. She said that when she left, she still communicated with her co-stars, most of whom she has learned to treat as family.

"Ellen [Pompeo] and I text a lot. I'm still waiting to meet [her daughter] Stella Luna," she told Entertainment Weekly in January 2021. "And Justin [Chambers] and I have been texting. Chyler Leigh is one of the most amazing young women. Just unbelievably lovely and supportive."

The "Firefly Lane" actor also shared how she holds her castmates close to her heart and values their friendship. "These are my friends. They're kind of family at this point," she added. "I spent more time with them over the past six years than I did with my own family. So I'm going to miss that."

Katherine Heigl's Dr. Izzie Stevens was a crowd favorite, so there's no doubt that her return to the show would be welcomed by fans if it happened. But years ago, she was almost turned off by the idea of it.

"I haven't [thought about Izzie] in years. I don't know. I don't know if I would or if I wouldn't. I almost feel like that would just be distracting, again, to sort of what they've done with that show in the seven years since I left and what that's become and what it is to the fans now," she told Entertainment Tonight in 2019. "I almost feel like it would be like, 'Yeah we already let that go, why are you here?'" 

But considering many of her co-stars made a reappearance on the show in the past couple of seasons, Heigl changed her tune. There's a chance that we may see Izzie grace the halls of Grey-Sloan Memorial again, after all. "I could never say never," she told The Washington Post. "I think it would just be completely dependent upon the team over there, how they feel about it, and the story."