New mum Katherine Heigl says she couldn't be happier after the Knocked Up star and her country musician husband Josh Kelley adopted South Korean daughter Naleigh in September last year.
And just when she heard the adoption of the tot - now 19-months-old - had gone through, the Grey's Anatomy actress landed the lead in Killers, released today, alongside Ashton Kutcher. So, Katherine, 31, found herself starring in a major movie while learning to be a mum.
Here, she tells The Ticket about her new film - in which she marries a former professional assassin whose past comes back to haunt them - and her adopted daughter.
How was working with Ashton Kutcher on Killers?
It was fun, but he was really mad at me that I wouldn't do my own stunts. He jokes - or probably only partly jokes - that I even think running is a stunt. And I do! [Laughs]
It's dangerous. I have bad feet and weak ankles. If you have to do it over and over again for all the different angles and takes, you can hurt yourself. So I had to wrap my ankles and stuff, but he was always just rolling his eyes at me.
Do you agree with the idea in the movie that you can have secrets within a marriage?
Well, I think it's better to be honest. I gave Josh a really hard time recently because he had this haircut that I really didn't like, although everyone else did.
I told him, "It's not you. You're really sexy, you're a manly man and this is sort of a metro haircut and I don't like it."
He just wouldn't listen to me and I think it was changing how I like looked at him - like I stopped kind of feeling he was that sexy. So he eventually agreed to have it changed and then I was all over him. I was like, "My god, you are so hot!"
Why did you decide to adopt?
I grew up with adoption. My [adopted] sister is Korean, so it was just kind of natural and obvious. We chose a Korean baby because of my sister and to this day my sister is so amazing with her.
I love that my niece and nephew, who are half-Korean, have a Korean cousin. We are a family of Koreans!
It's beautiful and it's wonderful.
There's a sort of open-mindedness about us all because of it.
It's very natural and what we've been exposed to, but I think people look at us sometimes and they think Naleigh is my sister's child, or they think my sister and I are a couple and these are our children.
I just love that, because I like surprising people. I like reminding myself that it's unusual to others, because to me it's not.
How has the baby changed your life and your priorities?
A lot of people choose not to have children, but for me, I wanted there to be more in my life than just me. My world felt very narrow - it was all about my work, or all about me and my relationship with Josh, or all about Josh and his work.
I wanted to broaden it and for there to be something more important, and Naleigh is clearly and obviously that.
It does put your priorities into perspective. It's much easier for me now to put my foot down about my priorities because it's not just me I'm protecting, it's my daughter.
I always thought, "Oh yeah, I'm going to love being a mom, I'm going to love my child and I'm going to be a great mother. I'm going to do all the things I'm supposed to do as a mom, but I'm not going to be one of those over-indulgent parents who thinks their kid is the second coming".
But it's impossible! I keep trying to say to myself, "I think you feel this way because she's your child, Katie. Don't assume that everyone feels this way about her".
But she is really cool. She's super funny, she's got this crazy, wacky sense of humour and she's really cute. I mean if you saw her, I think you'd agree. She's really cute and funny and charming.
How has your marriage changed since Naleigh came into your life?
All we do is talk about her, whereas before, all we did was talk about ourselves. [Laughs]We just talk about her so much. I think we're fast approaching the day where it's like, "Can you at least see that I'm here too?"
Is your working life less important to you now that you have more demands at home?
I remember my mother and I once looking at each other going, "Wow, we're going to the Golden Globes" because we'd only ever watched it on TV.
Now, I'm kind of like, "Do I have to go?" It is a lot of work, a lot of effort, and I get very self-conscious.
I would so rather hang in my great comfy dress on my couch, with my kid and watch it at home.
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