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Why I hate Katherine Heigl... again

My favorite ungrateful actress is at it again! Katherine Heigl on Letterman last week said this about her first day back on the GREY'S ANATOMY set: "It was - I'm going to keep saying this because I hope it embarrasses them - a 17-hour day, which I think is cruel and mean."

Poor Katherine Heigl. What she neglected to add was this: This "cruel" shooting schedule was only to accommodate HER and her needs. The producers graciously shuffled things around so she could go off and do promotion for her new film. Also, with union rules, the producers had to pay a ton of overtime and penalties to make this happen. The thanks they get is Katherine Heigl going on national television hoping to embarrass them.

This is an extreme case of chutzpah, but it's not uncommon that when shows become big hits cast members become much in demand. They're offered movie parts, plays, free cruises, you name it. All of a sudden, the show that launched their success is now sort of an imposition. Much more fun to go off and do a movie or a limited run on Broadway. So producers are put in the sticky position of either denying them these outside projects or moving heaven and earth to accommodate them - as if it's easy to complete principle photography on a normal schedule. (This is of course irrelevant to Katherine the Ingrate who only thinks of herself.)

Imagine you're a showrunner. You get that call from the agent. She gets on the phone and is all sweet and friendly. You know she wants a favor. When she gets on the phone and is curt and bitchy it's to complain about something on her client's behalf. So this is the bubbly persona today. Sure enough, can she ask a big favor? Her client has an audition/chance to do a movie/been asked to co-host the Rose Parade/been invited on Elton John's yacht/wants to do a play in Florida/has tickets for Springfield in Finland/been offered a commercial in Japan/needs to go on QVC to sell her doll collection/been offered a seat on the upcoming space shuttle/has been drafted by the Astros.

If you say "no" your actor sulks and becomes a huge pain in the ass. If you say "yes" you inconvenience two hundred people who are already hopelessly overworked and behind schedule anyway.

Most of the time you say "yes", even though it's a big headache for all concerned and will likely be costly.

And then it gets worse. Two actors have scheduling favors. And they conflict. Or they can't say for sure when they'll be back. Still, you twist around Rubik's Cube and try to make it work.

I dearly love the cast of CHEERS but by the last season we went down for runthrough one time and it was Rhea Perlman, George Wendt, and the script supervisor, the first and second AD, and the prop guy. I recall going back to the office to rewrite and someone said they didn't think a particular Sam joke worked. I blurted out, "How the fuck do we know? Brian did it!"

Again, as show runners we're happy our actors are doing well. Many struggled for many years and thanks to our show are now getting recognition and opportunities that were never there before. And they want to take advantage. I understand that.

But at least be grateful when we shift things around on your behalf. The CHEERS cast always was. We were forever thanked. And if we needed one of the actors to do a network promo or come in early so we could pre-shoot something -- whatever - they were always there.

Katherine Heigl did not embarrass the producers of GREY'S ANATOMY. She embarrassed herself. She once again exposed herself on national television to be a self-centered prima donna. And I hope another actor on GREY'S ANATOMY needs a few days off and Katherine has to work a 19 hour day. Not that she would.

http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2009/07/why-i-hate-katherine-heigl-again.html