6 Reasons Katherine Heigl Played the Same Character on Roswell and Grey's Anatomy
By: Holly Leveque
In 1999 at the premiere of The WB's Angel Brendan Fehr, from then upcoming new show Roswell, made an appearance. Long story short, 11 year old me walked past the fountain the Fiends cast dances in but this time it was filled with Brendan and four girls. I am sure he had a great night. Brenden and his women intrigued me enough to watch the premiere and the subsequent three seasons of Roswell.
Recently, as any real couple does, my boyfriend and I sat down and decided to watch the other's favorite shows. He already watched Grey’s Anatomy and then Roswell came up and we watched it all. And he loved it. I mean how could he not? He loved Buffy and Angel and it’s so awesome. (Seriously, if you have not watched Roswell go on Amazon Prime or Hulu Plus and watch it. You won’t regret it)
Rewatching Roswell with my boyfriend, it still made me laugh and cry at all the right times. But I noticed something now that I have seen Grey's Anatomy, Shonda Rhimes stole story from Roswell and if she didn't (which is more likely), some of these are a hell of a coincidence:
1. Name: Roswell, Isabel 'Issie' Evans ----- Grey's Anatomy, Dr. Isobel 'Izzie' Stevens
Most know Katherine Heigl from ABC's Grey's Anatomy, where she played Dr. Isobel 'Izzie' Stevens. Teenagers during Y2K may remember Heigl on The WB show Roswell where she played alien Isabel 'Issie' Evans.
On both shows her name is Isabel, albeit spelled differently. Her character's last names, Stevens and Evans, are even similar hence the bold.
2-5. The Men She Loves
On Roswell the love of Issie's life is Alex who dies. and he appears to her in times of struggle and in her dreams. Back on her home planet her past self betrayed her family for the love for her love Kivar. On Earth, Kivar inhabits the body of a human named Denny.
On Grey's Anatomy the love of Izzy's life is named Alex Karev. But before she marries Karev, she falls in love with a patient named Denny who dies and appears to her in times of struggle and in her dreams.
To recap: Alex = Alex, Denny = Denny, and Kivar = Karev
6. Both See People After They Die.
Both characters see their loved ones post mortem. On Roswell Issie is able to literaly go into other peoples dreams. Alex on Roswell and Denny on Grey's both come to her later on and help her make tough decisions... which doesn't work to well for Izzy.
Wrap-Up:
Moments in a human life get repeated, as their is only so many combinations of things we can accomplish, resistance repitition is futile. Shonda most likely did not steal story and character from Roswell, but the similarities are too similar to not make note, but coincidence in mythology will be with us forever, Joseph Campbell taught us this. The mythology in Roswell and Grey's Anatomy is similar and that in itself is beautiful.
Katherine Heigl's new show State of Affairs premieres this fall on NBC. Will she have a lover who tragically dies and has to deal with it? Actually yes, I've seen the pilot and her boyfriend dies in the opening teaser.
