Katherine Heigl: Winning Her Race

How weird is this? If gorgeous Katherine Heigl's character in the new Farrelly Brothers film The Ringer marries Johnny Knoxville's character, her name would be... Lynn Barker! Uh, hey, that's me! Regrettably, I don't look anything like Katherine. Most of us took notice of the tall, blonde beauty when she played a "Roswell" alien on TV. You can catch her weekly now as a sexy doctor on the hit show "Grey's Anatomy".

In The Ringer, a wacky comedy that ends up being a feel good tribute to the athletes of the Special Olympics, Katherine plays Lynn, an Olympics volunteer who is a bit suspicious that Johnny's character Steve Barker, a new entrant, pretending to be a mentally challenged guy named Jeffy, isn't really all that challenged.

We learned that the actress is into watching comedies at present, she's not sure what to get singer boyfriend Josh Kelly for Christmas, she can't sing herself and she witnessed some Johnny Knoxville pranks on the set. At our recent interview, Katherine looked really elegant. She was wearing black pants, and a beige cable knit long cardigan sweater that looked like cashmere to me; this over a white button down shirt and a black tee. Her hair was up in a ponytail and her double strand necklace was decked with large and funky stones.

TeenHollywood: What are the necklaces you're wearing?

Katherine: It's actually one necklace and I got it at Bergdorf Goodman. I'm a big Bergdorf Goodman fan and every time I go to NY, I splurge on something. Oh, I'm missing the bracelets. I don't know what I did with them. The designer is something Zwick. It's great and funky.

Katherine: No because first of all, I didn't know who Johnny was. My male friends knew who he was but I hadn't seen Jackass so I didn't know what to expect there. And as far as the special Olympics storyline goes, obviously when they first told me about it and sent me the script, I was a bit offended. Then I read the script and realized nobody was trying to make a mean, spiteful movie. Then I felt excited about it because I love funny, heartwarming films. It's one of my all time favorites to go see. I have a hard time making myself go see movies. I really want to see North Country but it's heavy, I can just tell from the commercials. I want to see 40 Year Old Virgin again right now. That's just the place I'm in.

TeenHollywood: Have you ever attended a Special Olympics?

Katherine: I've seen them but I've never attended. We met with some volunteers and people who work with the Special Olympics and got to know what the process is and what the job entails. Then after we shot a lot of those scenes, it was like I had been there. It was really exciting. The air was filled with festivity, competition, sportsmanship...it was really fun. I'd love to actually go and watch a real one.

Katherine: I get competitive about stupid things. I'm not into sports really. I don't watch them on TV but the other day my boyfriend [Josh Kelly] sang the National Anthem at a King's game so I went and then I get weirdly competitive and I don't know why. I have no attachment to hockey as a sport or the Kings as a team. But there I am getting really aggressive at the game so I try and avoid it because I don't like myself then.

Katherine: It was really no different than working with any actor I've worked with. There's a big misconception that you have to behave differently...there are a lot of assumptions that go on that are wrong. They were just as funny, witty, flawed and wonderful as everybody else involved in the project. It was a great learning experience for me to learn that ultimately, at a very base level, we are all human beings and there is no need to stereotype, put people in boxes or assume anything about anyone because everybody's pros and cons, strengths and weaknesses and personalities are different. Everybody is handicapped on some level, some are just more obvious.

TeenHollywood: Did you bond with them like Johnny did?

Katherine: Probably not as much because Johnny had far more scenes with the guys than I did. I missed out on all the fun. I was in my trailer knitting waiting to get called to the set so I missed a lot of the good times that they had but I thought it was wonderful that Johnny had that time to get to know everybody and got to form these friendships. They love him and he was just as wonderful with them. He's a wonderful guy and everybody loves him – the cast, the crew, the producers...everybody.

Katherine: I thought that movie was hilarious. But, you're probably right to some degree because men do not want to see women like that. We're supposed to put up with guys who act like jackasses in movies like Jackass or Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. I don't particularly find that gross, disgusting humor sexy; I just think it's funny. But men, for some reason, I think, need to view women like Cameron Diaz and Christina Applegate as sexy all the time. If they do anything gross, then they're just not ladies (draws in a breathe for emphasis). It's ridiculous. It's a horrible stereotype.

Katherine: Yeah, absolutely. I think and I said before, that everyone was hopeful. I really believed from the beginning that it has wonderful writing, wonderful actors, wonderful producers, but you have no idea what the American public will respond to. There are plenty of amazing shows on TV that people don't watch. So I think we got very lucky with our time slot; I think we happened to fill a certain space in this demographic that we appeal to. It's a nice mix of something between "Sex And The City" and "Friends"...there's a lot going on. It's a big cast. And I think initially it was more a medical drama when we did the pilot and it has morphed more into a relationship – and I don't mean sexually – but along the terms of friendships, the loves, the hates, the fear of dealing with dying patients, whatever. It's become more about [the characters'] personal stories, their emotional stories, than simply a medical show. I think we filled a need.

TeenHollywood: Does it make you more of a hypochondriac?

Katherine: [laughs] Yes it does. I really had to let go of some stuff. I would read a script at the table reading and I have 9 out of 10 of these symptoms. Do I need to get a cat scan, what's going on? So I had to really just shake it off. Paranoia was starting to run deep. I could give myself something from worrying about it.

TeenHollywood: Any embarrassing moments on the set? You ended up in your underwear at work one time.

Katherine: Yeah. There are so many. For me, it's just a really fun set. We work really long hours, but most of the time we're pretty jovial and happy. Most of the time we're messing shots up because we're laughing too much and it's hard on the crew because they're tired and you feel really bad but you can't stop. As soon as you put the pressure on yourself to stop laughing, you laugh more. So it's weird. Maybe I need to see a coach about that, a trick to help me stop it.

TeenHollywood: Johnny pull any pranks on you on this film? He's known for that.

Katherine: Not on me personally. He pulled this horrifying prank on one of the producers. He said it was because Mark had opened the door and done something to him first – he poured a glass of water over his head over a take. Well he retaliated with a cattle prod to his inner thigh. He was aiming at something else. And I'm like that's how you retaliate over a cup of water? I'm very glad I didn't open the door...Oh look, I put gum on Johnny's seat!! So I'm really glad that didn't happen because I'm not much for pain.

TeenHollywood: Whoa, that seems kinda overkill. Any embarrassing outtakes from the movie?

Katherine: Probably the most embarrassing for me is the singing scene because I wanted to act like I couldn't sing but then Barry said just sing like you would normally – sing it well. That was embarrassing because I couldn't and everybody knew I wasn't acting because I really cannot sing [laughs]. So that was embarrassing for me and hard to do – I don't even do karaoke. I'd have to be really drunk to do something like that. I just don't like putting myself on the line with things I know I'm no good at. As I've gotten older, I'm better in risking with acting and maybe doing mistakes with broader comedy but everybody has a learning curve and everybody has to risk in order to gain. But I don't generally risk where I know I'm not going to gain anything but humiliation. I hope they do an outtake reel because there are a lot of hilarious things they probably couldn't put in the movie.

TeenHollywood: And Josh hasn't taught you anything about music?

Katherine: He's tried. He is convinced that I can sing but I just think it's because he really likes me – he's biased [laugh]. I've learn to sing in a key I'm comfortable in and I think a true musician has range. He can sing all over the map. He can low, he can sing high, he can sing country, he can sing folksy, he can sing R&B. I just find him so immensely talented. His CD came out in August and it's so great – he has such a cool sound that I don't want to sing around him.

TeenHollywood: And you guys met on his video?

Katherine: Yeah. I did his music video – it's such a cliché. I wish I had a better story than that, but it's it. And we started dating right after that.

Katherine: Thanks for bringing that up. I'm actually freaking out about it! I have no idea what to get him. It's the first year we're celebrating the holidays together so there's this huge pressure to get the right gift. But that pressure always makes you fail and you over think it where a pair of really nice socks would be fine. How do I know if he'll like it and how much money should I spend and – it's making me paranoid. He's a musician, an artist, and does a lot of producing and mixing the music so I can't really lose. He has so many interests and there's such a broad spectrum of interests this person has. A lot are very expensive interests, however [laugh]. I like to be generous but maybe not $20,000 generous...I do need to pay my own mortgage! But Yahtzee is always good...I know he's into Scrabble.

TeenHollywood: If you weren't acting, what else might you have tried?

Katherine: For awhile when I thought about giving up acting. I thought I might go back to school and study art and work in an art gallery and be an art curator. That sort of interested me but not enough to study it. I don't know what else. There are so many career opportunities in the world today. I don't think anybody these days should get stuck doing something that makes them miserable just to pay the bills, just to have a 9 to 5 job. There's just too many options. I met a girl recently who studied speech who can do dialect coaching or work with special needs kids...there's such a wide spectrum this allows her in job opportunities and I though OK, I could study marine biology and work with dolphins if I wanted to. There's just so much you can do. I think I would have been one of those in college switching my major every month [laughs].

TeenHollywood: You look great. What do you do for fitness?

Katherine: That's a problem. I don't do a lot. I have issues with that. I hate exercising, I really do. I think it's the most boring thing in the universe. I have a hard time motivating myself to pretty much doing anything that takes any extra energy. Getting up at 4AM to get to work at 4:30 in the morning, that takes so much willpower for me, that I don't have any to spare for anything else that might make me miserable. So I did buy an elliptical machine that's fancy and has all types of programs to try to keep it interesting and I still find it boring. I watch TV while I do it too but it's still boring. But I try to do it at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes.

TeenHollywood: Are you on a special diet?

Katherine: I stopped dieting a long time ago. I actually lose weight when I'm not dieting. If I start dieting, I become food obsessed and then I eat more. So I eat a Krispy Kreme almost everyday because they have them on set but I'm kind of sick of them now, but then I don't eat much for lunch. Or I'll have a big steak dinner but that's because I just had soup for lunch. It's all about moderation. You should eat what you want but just not the whole box. That much willpower I do have. I don't eat the whole bag of potato chips.

TeenHollywood: We hear you are a big knitter. What are you knitting?

Katherine: I have about 12 projects going and we'll see if I finish any of them. I'm knitting this fantastic little capelet that's super easy and it's fantastic. But of course, it will take me months to finish because I have the attention span of a gnat. And I'm knitting a baby sweater for one of my co-stars. And I'm knitting a fantastic sweater but I already know I'll never finish that (laugh). High goals and ultimate failure – that's great. It keeps me grounded.

TeenHollywood: What can you tell us about Caffeine, your next movie?

Katherine: It's an independent movie and it's supposed to take place in a London coffee shop but it was shot here. A lot of the actors were British and a lot of us were not but we had to speak in an English accent, and hopefully well. It was terrifying. I always joke around and speak in a British accent just here and there because I love the accent and I love playing with it but when you're actually put to the test and on film doing it where British people may see it (laugh), it was terrifying. It was probably the most nervous I had been acting in a long, long time. Which was kind of cool, because it's nice being challenged. The movie is basically about a bunch of people and their separate stories going on in the coffee shop. I think it's a cool idea and very funny...at least it was when I read it.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.