Katherine Heigl Talks Family, Hollywood And Rom-Com Regrets...

Katherine Heigl is Marie Claire's August cover star

After quitting Hollywood back in 2009 to focus on her family, Katherine Heigl, the rom-com queen, is back and better than ever with a new US TV show, State Of Affairs, and animated movie, The Nut Job.

Speaking exclusively to us, Katherine explained the reasons behind her break from the limelight and said she was starting to regret taking so many parts in romantic comedies and needed to reevaluate her career goals. 'This thing that was my best friend for a long time suddenly turned on me,' she said of the notorious Hollywood machine. 'And I didn’t expect it. I was taken by surprise and angry at it for betraying me.'

'I had an amazing time. I love romantic comedies. I was so stoked to be doing them. But maybe I hit it a little too hard. I couldn’t say no. There’s nothing wrong with them, but maybe I overloaded my audience. I should have done a superhero movie or a psychological thriller.'

'I stopped challenging myself. It became a bit by rote and, as a creative person, that can wear you down. That was part of why I took that time off, to ask myself, "What do I want? What am I looking for?" and shut down all the noise.'

Speaking about her return to LA and her now-steady career/life balance, she said: 'I feel like I’m finally rolling into the next phase of my adulthood.'

'We made a deal [with the producers of State Of Affairs] that we will only do 15 episodes a season, so I can go back to Utah and do all the things that inspire me.'

'There’s still a part of me that’s a Hollywood animal as well.'

Also this month we have the ultimate AW14 trend report, a Marie Claire kids special, plus interviews with Miranda Kerr, Taylor Schilling and Kate Upton.

Marie Claire’s August 2014 issue is out now.

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