Katherine Heigl Still Thinks About Being Called "Difficult"

Once the reigning queen of rom-coms and beloved for her role on Grey's Anatomy, Katherine Heigl says that as soon as she started to voice her opinion on things, she was labeled as "difficult" — and that it's stuck with her ever since. In a new interview, she points at specific instances, like when she said that Knocked Up was "a little sexist" in 2007 and then when she withdrew herself from the 2008 Emmy nominees when she said that she "did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination."

"I may have said a couple of things you didn't like, but then that escalated to 'she's ungrateful,' then that escalated to 'she's difficult,' and that escalated to 'she's unprofessional,'" Heigl told the Washington Post. "What is your definition of 'difficult?' Somebody with an opinion that you don't like? Now, I'm 42, and that shit pisses me off."

She said that back when she said those things, she apologized, thinking that it was what people wanted from her, but as she's grown and realized that she hadn't done anything wrong, she just started to feel resentment.

"At the time, I was just quickly told to shut the fuck up. The more I said I was sorry, the more they wanted it," she added. "The more terrified and scared I was of doing something wrong, the more I came across like I had really done something horribly wrong."

Heigl went on to say that it all came down to money. As long as she was pulling in cash at the box office, what she said got ignored. As soon as her movies stopped being blockbusters, she felt like being "difficult" started to be an excuse not to hire her.

"You can be the most awful, difficult, horrible person on the planet, but if you're making them money, they're going to keep hiring you," she finished. "I knew that whatever they felt I had done that was so awful, they would overlook it if I made them money — but then my films started to make not quite as much money."

She even joked about it. During the interview, when she was asked if she wanted to be called Katherine or Katie, she said, "Whichever you prefer. Just don't call me difficult."