Isobel Katherine "Izzie" Stevens, M.D. is a fictional character from the medical drama television series Grey's Anatomy, which airs on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States. The character was created by series producer Shonda Rhimes, and was portrayed by actress Katherine Heigl from 2005 to 2010. Introduced as a surgical intern at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital, Izzie worked her way up to resident level, while her relationships with her colleagues Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) and George O'Malley (T. R. Knight) formed a focal point of the series.
Heigl garnered widespread critical acclaim for her performance as Izzie and received numerous awards and nominations for her role, winning Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2007. Her win was particularly notable in the history of Grey's Anatomy, as Heigl remains the only cast member to have won an individual Primetime Emmy Award for acting for her performance in the series. Although the series itself has received and won multiple Emmy Awards across various categories, none of its other principal cast members have won an individual acting Emmy. She was critical of the character's development during the show's fourth season, particularly her romance with her on-screen best friend George. She declined to pursue a nomination for the 2008 Emmy Awards, citing insufficient material in the role. After speculation that Izzie would be killed off in the fifth season, the character was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic melanoma. She married Alex in the series' 100th episode, and afterwards, her tumor was successfully removed. Heigl made her final series regular appearance as Izzie in the sixth season, leaving Seattle after Alex refused to resume their marriage. The actress requested to be released from her contract 18 months early, in order to spend more time with her family. Ten years after her final appearance, the character's fate was revealed in a season 16 episode, where she makes a visual cameo re-appearance.
Storylines Background Isobel Katherine "Izzie" Stevens (born 6/23/1981) is the daughter of a single mother named Robbie (Sharon Lawrence). They lived together in a trailer park, and Stevens was affectionately nicknamed "Cricket" by her mother. A teenage pregnant patient of hers named Cheyenne (Regine Nehy) identifies her trailer as being situated behind a church. Her maternal grandmother died of thyroid cancer sometime before her surgical residency. Growing up, Izzie was encouraged to go into the medical field by her high school biology teacher, Dr. Singer (Joel Grey).
When Izzie was 15, she became pregnant with her first biological child, Hannah Klein (Liv Hutchings) and this caused her to have friction with cheerleaders at her high school. In his Alzheimer's state, Dr. Singer recognizes the father of her child as a fellow high school student. She placed the child for adoption at age 16 after giving birth in 1996. Izzie privately named her daughter Sarah despite her adoptive parents naming her Hannah. Two years later, Stevens departed her hometown of Chehalis, Washington at age 18 and never returned until her third year of residency. After snooping through her file, Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) also discovers Stevens attended night school for college and consequently took six years to finish her undergraduate degree.
Summary Izzie is introduced as a 25-year-old former model in the first episode of Grey's Anatomy, meeting fellow surgical interns Meredith, Cristina, Alex, and George. She and George move in with Meredith and become best friends. Izzie's boyfriend, hockey player Hank (Jonathan Scarfe), struggles to accept her new role as a surgeon, and the two break up. Izzie is hurt when Alex exposes her past as a lingerie model. However, the two later go on to begin a friendship, and then a romance. Alex experiences sexual dysfunction with Izzie and cheats on her with nurse Olivia Harper (Sarah Utterback). When Izzie finds out, she breaks up with him, though they briefly reunite following a bomb incident at the hospital. Izzie falls in love with cardiothoracic patient Denny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and the two become engaged. When Denny's condition deteriorates, Izzie deliberately worsens his health further by cutting his LVAD wire to move him up the UNOS donor register. Although Denny receives a new heart, he has a stroke hours later and dies. Upon his death, Izzie becomes the sole beneficiary of Denny's will, inheriting $8.7 million. She uses the money to open a free clinic at the hospital: the Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic.
Izzie disapproves of George's relationship with and marriage to orthopedic resident Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez). She and George sleep together, and attempt to keep their liaison a secret. George and resident Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) are the only ones made aware that Izzie gave her child up for adoption at age 16. He supports Izzie when an 11-year-old Hannah, diagnosed with leukemia, arrives at Seattle Grace Hospital in need of a bone marrow transplant from Izzie. Izzie's feelings for George grow, and she reveals that she has fallen in love with him. The fourth season premiere "A Change Is Gonna Come" sees 28-year-old Stevens and her peers, except George, promoted to second-year residents. When Callie discovers George has been unfaithful, the two separate, and George and Izzie embark on a short-lived relationship, only to discover there is no real chemistry between them, and they decide to end their relationship and remain friends. Izzie supports Alex when he discovers his new girlfriend, Rebecca (Elizabeth Reaser) has psychiatric problems, and convinces him to have her committed. She is also handed primary responsibility for the clinic, as Bailey cuts back on her responsibilities.
Midway through second year, Izzie celebrates her 29th birthday. Around this timeframe, she and Alex have rekindled their intern year relationship but Izzie grows increasingly concerned when she begins hallucinating Denny. Ultimately she discovers she has Stage 4 metastatic melanoma that has already spread to her liver, skin and brain, causing the hallucinations. Her survival chances are estimated at only 5%. She is admitted to Seattle Grace as a patient. Bailey says Dr. Parker, an unseen obstetrician, will harvest healthy eggs before she undergoes any radiation so she has the option of having babies for later. Alex is upset about having to ejaculate into a cup to create embryos as he wanted them to have children naturally. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) successfully removes a tumor from her brain, and Alex informs her he fertilized the eggs. Izzie spends her time in the hospital planning Meredith and Derek's wedding, but when her condition worsens and Derek discovers a second brain tumor, they give the ceremony to Izzie and Alex, who marry in front of all their friends. The procedure to remove the second tumor from Izzie's brain causes her to lose her short-term memory, and although she soon regains it, she flatlines moments later. Her friends ignore her DNR order and attempt to resuscitate her. She dreams herself on an elevator to the afterlife meeting George, who is also flatlining after being hit by a bus. Though George dies, Izzie is resuscitated and recovers enough to return to work.
Izzie is subsequently cut from the surgical program after making a treatment error that endangers the life of a patient. Believing Alex is to blame for her firing, she writes him a Dear John letter and leaves. After Meredith informs Izzie that Alex is moving on, she returns in a midway to make amends and apologize for her mistake in believing Alex was responsible for her firing. After a scan, she informs Alex that she no longer has cancer. Although he is pleased, Alex officially breaks up with Izzie, telling her that he loves her but deserves better. He then urges her to leave, be happy, and not come back. Thus Izzie leaves Seattle forever to start afresh.
Aftermath Seven episodes after Izzie's final appearance in Season 6, Alex informs Meredith that Izzie has sent divorce papers, which he signs two episodes later in "How Insensitive". In the Season 6 finale, Alex is shot and, in his delirium, asks for Izzie, imagining that Lexie Grey is her. He pleads with her not to leave him again, reflecting his deep unresolved feelings for Izzie.
Izzie's presence continues to influence Alex throughout later seasons, particularly in his relationship with Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington). In the Season 12, "I Choose You", Jo discovers an invoice from the fertility clinic that stored the embryos created when Izzie had cancer, sparking questions about whether Alex might have children with Izzie. In the Season 12 finale, Alex contemplates the idea of having just one soulmate, referring to Izzie, even as his relationship with Jo faces turbulence. The show's 300th episode, "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story," features a character resembling Izzie, reminding Alex of his past. He admits to Jo that he never learned what became of Izzie, but prefers to imagine that she is living a happy life, married with children, always smiling.
The full story of Izzie's life post-Grey Sloan is revealed in the Season 16 episode "Leave a Light On". It is disclosed that Izzie pursued IVF using the embryos she and Alex had created, leading to the birth of twins, Alexis and Eli. Now a surgical oncologist, Izzie lives on a farm in Kansas, raising their children. 10 years after their divorce, Alex reconciles with Izzie, leaving his current life behind to be with her and their twins.
In the 400th episode, "You Are the Blood," Meredith reflects on her memories of the hospital, imagining Izzie in fragments of her past as she is named chief of surgery.
Development
Casting and creation
Izzie was created by Grey's Anatomy producer Shonda Rhimes, and Katherine Heigl was cast in the role. Heigl originally wanted to play Izzie as a brunette but was asked to keep her natural blonde hair for the character. For the audition, Heigl tried to give off a smart appearance by wearing a sweater, glasses, and putting her hair in a bun. She even considered dyeing her hair brunette to convince Rhimes and director Peter Horton that she could play a doctor. However, Horton noted that while they considered other actresses, "Katie came in and just ... obliterated it," and praised her for being both beautiful and an exceptional actress. The glasses Izzie wore in the pilot episode were dropped because of technical issues with lighting during shooting.
Heigl has admitted that her understanding of medical terminology was minimal, explaining that while she admired doctors, she was not as captivated by the medical world as some of her castmates. She also once expressed interest in a potential spin-off for her character Izzie when Kate Walsh's Addison Montgomery left Grey's Anatomy to star in Private Practice.
In 2008, Heigl declined to submit her name for consideration for a Primetime Emmy Award for her work in Grey's Anatomy's fourth season, stating that she felt the material she was given did not warrant a nomination. This led to speculation that her character would be killed off, especially after it was announced that Jeffrey Dean Morgan (who played Izzie's love interest, Denny Duquette) would return to the series despite his character's death. ABC's entertainment president, Steve McPherson, denied the rumors and emphasized that Izzie would have an important storyline that season.
In 2010, Heigl clarified her stance on the Emmy situation, expressing regret for how she had handled it. She called her 2007 win "the highlight of [her] career" and admitted she feared a "No comment" would make her sound disinterested. Reflecting on the situation, she acknowledged that her approach had been unfair to the writers.