One familiar face in the new TV fall lineup is that of Katherine Heigl, who left “Grey’s Anatomy” after six seasons in 2010 to pursue a career in movies. Heigl, 35, who grew up in New Canaan, is returning to television to star as a CIA analyst for the White House in the new NBC series “State of Affairs,” which starts Monday, Nov. 17.
But after a load of romantic comedies of varying quality, Heigl says the most daunting thing about her new role is “just trying to get people to believe I could actually be a CIA analyst.”
In the series, she plays Charleston Tucker, whose CIA job is to present the daily briefing to the President, who is played by Alfre Woodard.
“What was so compelling to me is that this is an actual job, and I had never realized that,” Heigl told reporters at the TV Critics Press Association summer press tour in July. “I’m not sure why, but a lot of people have asked me, ‘Does this really happen? Does the President have a briefer?’
Not only does he have one, but an agent who held that job during the Bush and Clinton administrations, Rodney Faraon, is advising the show.”I got to hang out with Rodney, and he has all these really awesome stories that make you feel like maybe somebody is going to come knock down your door and drag you off somewhere for knowing,” Heigl said. Not only was there “all these incredible stories about his experience as a briefer,” Heigl said, it was helpful to have him on the set to ask how certain situations would be handled.
After a run of frothy romantic comedies that began with “Knocked Up” and continued with “27 Dresses,” “The Ugly Truth,” “Life as We Know It” and “New Year’s Eve,” Heigl says she was eager for something this serious.
“To play such an intelligent woman who is a real patriot, who really believes that she can make a difference and help protect her country and help her President do her job, and the idea that this is rife with all kinds of fascinating stories about this country and this world and what goes on that we don’t really know much about,” she said, “it all felt like the perfect extraordinary role and story to tell for me.
“State of Affairs” is also stretching her skills behind the camera, with “the opportunity to not only perform in it but executive produce it.”
Which, she said, was a big step.
“I’m not sure why I feel this way, but acting and performing has always felt a bit more like kid’s play to me because it’s something I’ve always loved, and I love the opportunity to tell stories and be imaginative, and the executive producing angle of it feels more like a grown-up job.”
Heigl says she didn’t think she as particularly good at it yet, “but I’m learning. I’m learning. I’m getting better.”
Help From Mom
More controversial, perhaps, was the role of her mother as an executive director as well. Nancy Heigl has been a big promoter of her daughter since they went into New York from New Canaan for the teenager’s modeling jobs.
When Katherine Heigl’s role as Izzie on “Grey’s Anatomy” earned her an Emmy in 2007, the actress gushed in her acceptance speech with a message to her mother: “This is for you. This is because of you. I wouldn’t want to be here without you.”
Indeed, Nancy Heigl was her daughter’s Emmy date again this year, when she was invited to be a presenter.
But her role as an executive on her daughter’s show brought some skepticism from the press. “Honestly, I have never seen a mom as an EP on a major television production,” one reporter said. “What will you do?”
“She bakes us cookies,” Heigl shot back sarcastically.
In her own defense, Nancy Heigl said, “Katie and I obviously have a partnership” and the show’s producers came to the two of them with the idea of the show.
“I am her mother for sure. So, of course, I care about her interests,” she said. “But I’m just learning about executive producing. We’re really in the process, and I’m learning from those who really know and from NBC and Universal, and it’s been fun. It’s been interesting. I’m the newcomer to it.”
“Nancy has been pretty great with this process and particularly casting,” said executive producer Joe Carnahan.
Indeed, the shakeup on the “State of Affairs” team happened when another executive producer, Ed Bernero, left his job as show runner for the series citing creative differences. He was replaced by Dario Scardapane, the former show runner of “Trauma,” who recently worked on the cable series “The Bridge” and “Dominion.”
The fact that Heigl was returning to series TV at all was a surprise to some, after her run of romantic features.
Producer Bob Simonds ,who has worked with Heigl on many of her movie projects, was planning to work on more with her. “I tried to get her to do ‘I Dream of Jeannie,’ but couldn’t actually get there, not because of her, but because I couldn’t get the script right. And we’re going to be doing features with her. In fact, we’re going to be doing one in March,” he said.
“But we started talking about doing television, and she was really only interested in going back to TV if it was… smart — what is now being called ‘cable quality,'” Simonds said.
“When I first came up with the concept and brought the idea to Bob,” Faraon said, “his first question was, ‘Well, who do think would star in this and would be credible?’ And immediately — and this is no joke — I said ‘Katherine Heigl.’ Because as a CIA analyst, I watched her on ‘Grey’s,’ and I just thought that she was terrific. And so she was actually literally my first choice.”
Was She Really Going To Quit Acting?
Still, Heigl has had to fight a reputation of being tough to work with — including at the press tour where she was asked to assess the charge.
“I can only say that I certainly don’t see myself as being difficult,” she said, sounding a little sad. “I would never intend to be difficult. I don’t think my mother sees herself as being difficult. We always, I mean, it’s most important to everybody to conduct themselves professionally and respectfully and kindly….”
Before her return to TV, Heigl shook some up with an interview that suggested she had done too many romantic comedies. “Maybe I hit it a little too hard,” she told Marie Claire UK. “I couldn’t say no. I stopped challenging myself.”
She even considered quitting acting altogether, she said. But asked how close she actually was to walking away from acting at the press session for “State of Affairs,” she said, “Not that close, obviously.”
“I took a couple of years off to just really be with my family and be with my new child, my new daughter, ” Heigl said. “And I needed that time. I needed to be a mom and be a wife and be a friend and really revel in that and remember what it is I feel so passionate about in this industry.”
In that slew of romantic comedies, “I felt I had stopped challenging myself and I was making choices that I loved that I was excited about. I love doing romantic comedies. I love them, and I love watching them. But I stopped sort of … exercising different muscles of my ability,” Heigl said.
“And then in that moment I felt that I was sort of letting down my audience, that I wasn’t challenging them either.”
“State of Affairs,” she said, “is an opportunity for me to flex some different muscles and show a different side of myself as an actor and performer and storyteller that I hope my audience will be excited about and love.”
“STATE OF AFFAIRS” debuts 10 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17 on NBC, locally WVIT, Channel 30.
