Katherine Heigl
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Is Katherine Heigl going from rom-coms ... to rom-drams?

According to E! Online, the Grey's Anatomy actress is set to star in Life as We Know It, a film about two singletons who must come together to raise an orphaned child.

And fall in love, perhaps?

The film, which is set to be directed by Greg Berlanti, sounds like it might be a project that is ripe with dramatic possibility, but the really interesting thing about it? The Emmy-winning actress will also be co-producing the film with her mother, Nancy Heigl.

Nancy and Katherine Heigl recently formed a production company together.

Ending months of rumors, Katherine Heigl is said to have signed a deal to return for the sixth season of Grey's Anatomy, though the star herself has not confirmed it.

The Season Six cast of Grey's Anatomy is becoming clearer by the day.

Following reports that original cast member T.R. Knight is leaving the series for good, a fact that has been long-rumored but finally confirmed this week, comes an inside source confirming to E! Online that Katherine Heigl "will be back" next season.

Heigl had been said to want off the show for an entire season.

Official comments from the show bosses or Katherine Heigl has not been issued, however, E! is one of the more reputable celebrity news sources around, so if we were forced to take a guess as to this story's legitimacy, we would believe it.

Season Five ended on a double-death cliffhanger, as T.R. Knight's character, Dr. George O'Malley, struggled to survive massive trauma inflicted by a bus accident, and Heigl's Dr. Izzie Stevens was enduring life-threatening complications of her cancer treatment.

One could say that the split decision - T.R. Knight goes and Katherine Heigl stays - was sort of telegraphed in the fifth season finale's episode-ending dream sequence.

In that scene, Izzie seemed drawn back to the voices of friends trying to save her life, while George seemed serenely ready to move into the new phase of existence.

What do you think? Are you happy Katherine is coming back? Do you not believe anything until you see her on screen in the Season Six premiere?

After a firestorm of controversy erupted around Katherine Heigl's decision to remove herself from Emmy Awards consideration in 2008, citing a lack of exceptional material, the Grey's Anatomy heroine and lightning rod has reentered the derby this year, EW reports.

Heigl critics may claim that the 2007 Outstanding Supporting Actress winner is back in the race because of tensions that allegedly sprung up between her and series creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes after she took herself out of the running in '08.

The budding movie starlet (27 Dresses, Knocked Up, The Ugly Truth), fans may recall, said at the time that she didn't have material with which she could compete.

But some believe it's likelier that Katherine knows, whether viewers loved or loathed the Izzie-brain tumor story, that she did a heck of a job with her character.

Katherine Heigl has already earned one high-profile endorsement - Rhimes'.

"I think she did beautiful work," Rhimes raved in an interview last week, immediately following the season finale. "I think she always does beautiful work."

Besides, if it turns out Izzie did take the Seattle Grace elevator straight up to heaven, a second Emmy in three years would make a lovely parting gift, no?

Was that really Meredith and Derek's wedding last night? Is Arizona Robbins sticking around Seattle Grace? Will Izzie and/or "John Doe" a.k.a. George survive?

All these burning questions linger after last night's season finale (see our recaps of Part I and Part II). Fortunately, Shonda Rhimes is providing some answers.

Some answers.

The Grey's Anatomy creator and executive producer spoke to Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly about all these issues and much more, including the "ghost sex" controversy, Katherine Heigl's Emmy chances, and T.R. Knight's alleged unhappiness.

Here's the text of EW's interview with Shonda ...

EW: Rumors have been swirling all year that Katherine and TR wanted off the show. The season ends with both their characters' lives hanging in the balance. Purely coincidental?

Shonda Rhimes: I don't think there are any coincidences. I think Katherine's stated publicly that she's happy to stay. I think that there have been lots of rumors about T.R., but T.R.'s never said anything. Take from it what you will.

EW: This kind of cliffhanger almost seems tailor-made to capitalize on some of those headlines and generate buzz.

Shonda Rhimes: You have to remember, I have two shows. It's not as if I spend a lot of time reading the press. We talk about stuff in the writers' room that other people have read, but, mostly, we were really moving on character. Every year at the beginning of the season I pitch what the end of the season is going to be. And I literally sat down and pitched the last 10 minutes of this season at the beginning of the season, so we were headed towards the place that we knew we were going to go.

EW: Do you know which one of them lives and which one of them dies?

Shonda Rhimes: Yes. And I don't know that you should be saying "which one of them lives and which one of them dies." I know what happens to the characters.

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This report is pretty much unsubstantiated and based on rumors, so take it with a grain of salt. But if it were true, how ironic would this turn of events be?

According to reports, Grey's Anatomy star Katherine Heigl is now in the process of begging producers not to kill her off - months after she threatened to quit.

Speculation Heigl was set to leave the hit drama reached fever-pitch when her character, Dr. Izzie Stevens, was diagnosed with severe brain and liver cancer.

Katherine had also previously hinted that she wanted to concentrate on her film career following the success of her comedies Knocked Up and 27 Dresses.

But has the actress - who won an Outstanding Supporting Actress Emmy Award as Dr. Izzie Stevens in 2007 - now had a change of heart?

A source tells the Showbizspy, "With the economy tanking and her in a key role in a huge TV hit, Katherine Heigl is not ready to quit her day job."

"Now she's trying to convince them not to kill off her character. She'd like a few more lucrative seasons on Grey's Anatomy as she continues to build a reputation in the film world."

"The producers are messing with Katherine now. They won't give her a concrete answer. She's learned just how cutthroat this industry can be."

Heigl recently insisted she wasn't planning to quit Grey's Anatomy.

"I was assuming that [Izzie would die] at one point, and I got a lot of shrugged shoulders and shakes of the head, so I don't know if that's a yes or a no," she said.

"No one will tell me and I don't know how this is going to go."

Despite ongoing reports that she wanted out of her Grey's Anatomy contract and that she was being killed off the show, Katherine Heigl said she wants to stay on the medical drama if her character, Izzie, survives brain surgery.

"I was assuming that [Izzie would die] at one point, and all I got were a lot of shrugged shoulders and shakes of the head, so I don't know if that's a yes or a no," she told the Associated Press Friday at a party celebrating the show's 100th episode.

"No one will tell me and I don't know how this is going to go."

Katherine Heigl noted that the decision rests solely with the show and series creator Shonda Rhimes, who is known to value plot secrecy.

"I don't know if I live or die," Heigl said. "I don't know how Izzie fares."

Dr. Izzie Stevens has metastatic melanoma - skin cancer - that spread to her brain, giving her only a five percent chance of survival, a story the show has built up for months courtesy of her visions of her late fiance, Denny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

On Thursday's episode, "Elevator Love Letter," she survived brain surgery.

Still, Heigl said, "I'm there" if Izzie remains part of Grey's Anatomy, for which she has starred since it debuted on ABC in March 2005. She called the set "one of my favorite places to be" and said her colleagues are also some of her best friends.

Rhimes, who is also an executive producer, declined to comment on what will happen to Heigl's character, but she did reveal a clue about the 100th episode, airing May 7.

"The only thing I'll tell you about the 100th is that it takes place on Meredith [Ellen Pompeo] and Derek's [Patrick Dempsey] wedding day," Rhimes said.

"That's big ... and that's all I'm going to say."

Well, guess we're no longer in the dark about that.

Katherine Heigl, who some thought was wanting to be released from the show to focus on her movie career (Knocked Up, 27 Dresses), said she's comfortable balancing film and TV work by taking on big-screen projects during the summer hiatus.

"I'm more than happy to make that compromise," Heigl said. "As my agent likes to say, 'High-class problems.' I don't know if I want to continue for five years working 12 months a year, but I can take at least another year or two."

She's the picture of good health ... so to speak. Grey's Anatomy actress Katherine Heigl, whose character, Dr. Izzie Stevens, received a devastating diagnosis in last week's episode of the hit series, certainly had her hands full with something else as she ran errands in Beverly Hills ...

Is Katherine Heigl being killed off Grey's Anatomy? Literally and/or figuratively?

This question has been raging for months ... many months in fact.

The latest from E! Online is that although nothing is official, it's looking "very likely" that both Heigl and T.R. Knight will sail off into an ABC-free sunset come the end of Season Five.

"The legal papers just need to be signed," says one Grey's Anatomy Insider reportedly familiar with the situation regarding the two acclaimed stars.

So, are the months-long rumors true that Izzie will die? If so, was bringing Denny back a mistake at first glance, but retrospectively a brilliant way to build up to her death?

At first glance, it would appear so, given her condition. However, it has been speculated that ABC will only release her from her contract if she agrees to future guest spots.

And if Izzie does leave, for any reason, what does that mean for her (living) love interest, Alex Karev? Also, how sorely would George O'Malley (T.R.) be missed? Would Seattle Grace be the same? Can the show survive without the two?

Grey's Anatomy creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes wants to set the record straight: T.R. Knight and Katherine Heigl are not leaving the show.

"That was a very interesting rumor," Rhimes said Thursday night at the 40th NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles. "And it's not true."

Rhimes was referring to a recent comment in the press attributed to Grey's Anatomy cast member James Pickens, Jr., in which the actor was said to be confirming the long-rumored departure of both Heigl and Knight, two of the series' original stars.

"That was absolutely taken out of context," said Rhimes.

"Things happen, and ... I think rumors become fact very easily. And you know I don't like to tell you what's going to happen on the show - but that is a rumor."

These two are the subject of many rumors.

For his part, Pickens says he meant to wish the pair well in general.

"We've been living with these rumors for a long time," he said. "When the question was posed to me, I was more trying to congratulate Katie and T.R. on whatever they were going to do."

"But, yeah, I don't have any special info about it either way."

ABC's Grey's Anatomy took home three awards, including Chandra Wilson's win for outstanding actress in a drama series. Wilson said she was looking forward to the show's upcoming 100th episode – and insisted things were all good on the set.

"We're laughing at the rumors, as we always do," Wilson said before the ceremony. "Stories come out, and [there are] these big quotes, and we go, 'But that's not exactly what I said.' So, we're busy doing our jobs, doing our work."

The Los Angeles Times is weighing in on the rumors of two Grey's Anatomy cast members leaving the show, and whether said rumors should be believed - and moreover, if all of the suspense surrounding the pair's drama is necessarily a bad thing.

Whatever plot twists the Grey's Anatomy writers are planning, they can't possibly be as dramatic - or at least as suspenseful, in the literal sense of something suspended that never actually falls - as the rumored exits of cast members Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight.

Lingering for months already, this particular bit of off-screen gossip was heightened yesterday by a new report that quotes fellow cast member James Pickens, Jr., as declaring that Heigl and Knight are as good as gone from the ABC medical drama.

Katherine Heigl is a sometime movie star (some of her Knocked Up quotes were pretty funny) with a well-documented fondness for saying seemingly unguarded and possibly career-jeopardizing things, like dissing the series with a grandiose gesture.

That being removing herself from Emmy consideration last year and saying "the material I was given" failed to warrant consideration. This after winning the previous year.

T.R. Knight, who was at the center of an ugly gay-baiting incident involving former co-star Isaiah Washington, is reportedly unhappy with what he feels is limited screen time.

A couple points, however, are getting lost in the scuffle to squeeze some sort of definitive news from Pickens' comments, according to the L.A. Times ...

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