Does Katherine Heigl give a damn about her bad reputation?

Wonderwall, Friday, October 8, 2010, 11:56am (PDT)

By Rebecca Silverstein

Is she or isn't she? That's the question I was left wondering about Katherine Heigl's "ungratefulness" after watching her on KTLA recently. During her interview, the "Life As We Know It" actress was asked about a recent New York Times profile of her that discussed her notorious "image problem." Katherine agreed that the article was "fair," adding, "I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out where I kind of went off track and how and why and what I can do in the future to avoid that." Whether that's motivated by legitimate remorse or the fact that "Killers" totally flopped is up for grabs.

RELATED: Check out Katherine's style profile

If there's one take home message from all this, it's that Katherine is thankful for her career. (Is it just me, or is it absurd that we applaud celebrities for appreciating what they have?) "I'm really excited and grateful to be in the position that I'm in now and have the opportunity to be in movies like this movie," she said. Yeah, I'm sure she said similar things about "Grey's Anatomy," the show that plucked her from obscurity, before she dumped on her supposedly "subpar" material and then just didn't show up for work. And she probably spouted similar lines about "Knocked Up," the movie that gave her a big screen career, until she called it "sexist" in Vanity Fair. But c'mon, folks, she's grateful!

Katherine is quick to point out that in the Times, the author notes that nothing she said was "scandalous -- it just had a tone." And while she's not willing to play prim and proper all the time, she's ready to turn it down a few notches: "That's the most important thing I've learned as I get older," she says. "I can let go of the tone. I'll say what I gotta say and be honest, but maybe not so edgy." But is it really edginess that she's guilty of? Susan Sarandon, Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johansson -- they're all "edgy" women, but they don't have her diva reputation. What do you have to say about that, Heigl?

RELATED: Katherine: 'It's time to reevaluate and grow up'

Katherine's outspokenness has been useful though, as E! Online's Ted Casablanca points out: "We hearted the babe for standing up so vocally for pal T.R. Knight during Isaiahgate," he writes, "but unfortunately her good heart was trumped by her big mouth in a lot of situations." The difference is when her behavior is selfless versus self-absorbed; mouthing off about someone who's gay-bashing versus mouthing off about your writers.

I don't think Katherine's a bad person: I just think she got caught up in being a hot commodity. It happens. Plus, Hollywood likes to create its own villains, and Katherine fit the role so perfectly. What I give Katherine credit for, however, is owning up to her past mistakes. Whether or not it would have happened voluntarily, well, that's a different story.

RELATED: Stars who have chosen to adopt

Now that Heigl's (supposedly) outgrown the bratty, smack-talking actress role, who's going to take it on? Megan Fox, we've got our eye on you.

Follow Rebecca Silverstein and Wonderwall on Twitter!