A Puff of Fresh Air

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'27 Dresses'

Katherine Heigl and James Marsden star in this romantic comedy about a woman who, tired of being a bridesmaid, faces the prospect of watching the man she loves marry her sister. Showtimes

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Knight, you may recall, was reportedly subjected to a homosexual slur by fellow thespian Isaiah Washington in an on-set altercation (hissy fit) with co-star Patrick Dempsey, a.k.a. "McDreamy." Washington denied uttering the slur, but while denying it (in front of reporters backstage at the Golden Globes last year), he used the word again (a classic). At the time, an exasperated Heigl told "Access Hollywood" that Washington "needs to just not speak in public." In the pages of Entertainment Weekly, she called him "thoughtless and boneheaded." Washington was relieved of his duties. And suddenly, Heigl became known as a gal with opinions (vs. the usual blank stare), though the label really says more about the blandness of most entertainers, because, after all, what did Heigl really do but suggest that you shouldn't call people names, especially at awards shows?

Heigl gets up for another cup. "Want some?" We tend to forget, or we never really knew, that Heigl has been in the business a long time. A child model, then child actor, then teen actor. She starred in "Bride of Chucky" and "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory." She did a lot of mediocre TV movies.

After she graduated from New Canaan High School in Connecticut, Heigl and her mom drove west. "We put all our [stuff] in the car, and the dog, and us, and I had really high hopes. I really did." She laughs at the memory. Silly girl. "And it was nothing like what I thought it would be. Nope. L.A. is a totally different universe. It's a beast."

She says Hollywood has a kind of default setting when confronted with an actress such as Heigl. "You're the blonde," she says. "Or the cheerleader. Or the girl friend. It would have been really easy to fall back on the blonde and the bra size and just do that for the rest of my career."

But there's always someone, blonder or, you know, bigger.

"There are a lot of pretty girls in this town," she says, slurring the words "a lot."

This whole time you're living with your mother?

She relights. Her hair is a freshly fluffed pillow. "We lived in an apartment in Woodland Hills for a couple years. Then Mom bought a house in Calabasas. I was her roommate and I paid rent, or whatever, but no matter, you're still living in your mom's house. You're still following her rules. By about 22 I realized I should probably be doing some of this on my own. Like my own laundry. And I probably shouldn't have a curfew. I needed to grow up. It was actually very hard and scary for me. I think my mother was more relieved, and I was clinging to what I knew."

Her mother, Nancy Heigl, is also her business partner and manager, which is not unusual when an actress is 10 years old and performing in Cheerios commercials, but very unusual when an actress is attempting to scale the A-list.

So your mom is an evil puppet master, an Ari Gold in Talbots?

Heigl snorts. "The scary momanager," she squeaks in mock horror. "No, I've always respected my mother, her intellect, her savvy, her courage. I haven't met that many people like my mother."

The key to their success? "There was never a time in her life when my mother ever wanted this -- this profession -- for herself. So there's no agenda. There's no living vicariously through me. My mother hates having her photograph taken. When they cut to her at the Emmys she was horrified. . . . So there is none of that weird competition, do you know what I mean?"