Just a little over a week after confirming that Katherine Heigl will indeed be back on Grey’s Anatomy this April, there’s a little addendum that wasn’t included in the news: her return might very well be short-lived.

People.com reports that Heigl, who has played Izzie Stevens on Grey’s since its inaugural season, has five movies in development, not counting her action comedy Killers with Ashton Kutcher, set to hit theaters in June.

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A source privy to the happenings on Grey’s Anatomy says that “it wouldn’t be a shock” if her March 1 return to the set of the ABC show proves short-lived, and she decides to focus on her burgeoning movie career.

“The level of speculation is no different than it has been in the past couple of years,” adds another show insider. Casting changes, the source says, are typical of a show with a six-season run.

Heigl had been walking on tight rope as far as Grey’s is concerned, following several controversial comments that either ribbed or insulted the show’s writing staff and work schedule.

It’s important to note that when the series wraps up its sixth season in May, Heigl would’ve missed roughly half of its 24-episode run.

Her standing story arc on the show has largely been an offshoot from last season, when Izzie discovered that seeing Dead!Denny (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) was a symptom of stage IV metastatic melanoma.

She survived the surgery and has now all but fully recovered. She was, however, fired from Seattle Grace following a mistake on a liver transplant patient.

Her other storyline – with hubby Alex (Justin Chambers) whom she married last season – has also wrapped up, after he broke up with her on “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked.”

Source: People
(Image courtesy of ABC)

 

Glenn Diaz

Staff Writer, BuddyTV