Projects, Passions And A Pseudonym

Katherine Heigl appeared on the Drew Barrymore Show via video link on February 9, to talk about her new Netflix drama Firefly Lane and the release of psychological thriller Fear Of Rain in which she stars alongside Harry Connick Jr. and Madison Iseman.

At the start of the interview, Barrymore mentioned that Anne Hathaway had recently revealed that she prefers to be called “Annie,” before turning to Katherine and asking, “If you know you in real life, you’re Katie, right?”

“Yes, no one calls me Katherine. It sounds much more sophisticated right? Like an adult name,” she replied, explaining that it helps her to “separate my work from me. I’ve just had to embrace it.” Barrymore then asked if the Firefly Lane star felt like she had “two women running around inside her”, noting that “Katherine” sounds quite “regal” while the name “Katie” gives the impression of being “super cute and smiley.”

“I do actually feel that way,” Heigl answered, continuing, “I feel like I can present as Katherine when I need to, but most of the time I’m just Katie.”

Katherine also revealed that she had some strict house rules for her children during the pandemic, describing herself as a bit of a “drill sergeant” when it came to her daughters use of technology. Their addiction to the game Roblox led her to ban them using online devices.

“They would be in their rooms playing this game together, the two girls, for like six to seven hours,” Heigl explained. “We were pretty lax about it, and then I realized that was wrong and not healthy. I tried to scale it back, and then it was just this addiction for them, so I kinda had to just completely take devices away. But then as soon as I would turn around, somehow my daughter would find a device, and she was doing TikTok videos.”

“How did you get through the pandemic?!” Barrymore joked. “Are you a saint?! Are you a martyr?!”

Katherine added that she has now relented because of controls that allow her to restrict how long her kids are online and the content that they can access. “So I have ultimate control over the devices. I feel like, ‘OK, I can safely do this now,'” she explained. “They can be safe on there, and I can be sure they’re safe. So they have access to, like, books,” Heigl added, laughing.

Drew mentioned how much she was enjoying Firefly Lane, which is currently the number 1 show on Netflix, effusively noting that both she and Heigl’s character Tully Hart are both daytime talk show hosts.

“It is one of those stories that I have been dying to be a part of, just really heart wrenching and honest and beautiful. The power of that kind of love and loyalty and connection, what it can mean in your life and how necessary it is. I am a big Beaches fan, I am a big Steel Magnolias fan, these are my favorite movies, so I feel like I get to be part of one of those type of stories,” Heigl enthused.

Following a sneak preview of Katherine’s new movie Fear Of Rain, Drew and her audience were joined on-screen by the Harwin Family. They adopted Francis, a dog rescued by Katherine’s animal welfare organization the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation.

Katherine told the audience how rescue partner Delta Humane, found Francis neglected, abandoned and badly abused in Louisiana. He was transported to her ranch in Utah, where after a year of care, Francis was able to recover and find his forever home with the Harwin’s.

If you are interested in adopting one of the others dogs featured in the video above, or help a companion animal in need, please visit the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation for more information.

Check out Firefly Lane Season 1 streaming now on Netflix, and Fear Of Rain available on demand from February 12.