--- description: The 'Grey's Anatomy' alumna returns to prime-time television as a CIA agent tasked with giving the daily presidential briefing title: Katherine Heigl Stars in NBC Drama 'State of Affairs' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3526b0c2c19f8125/69868e2f1eebf79922370c4a/katherine-heigl-state-of-affairs.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Katherine Heigl Stars in New NBC Drama  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 7, 2014 1:35 AM CUT  Katherine Heigl Katherine HeiglDan Steinberg—Invision/AP  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 7, 2014 1:35 AM CUT Because you can never have too many fictional, blond CIA agents on television, NBC [has picked up](http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/katherine-heigl-cia-drama-nbc-1201173637/ "undefined") Katherine Heigl’s new drama series, _State of Affairs_. Unlike Claire Danes on _Homeland_, the _Grey’s Anatomy_ alumna won’t be recruiting assets for overseas intelligence missions—instead, she’ll give daily briefings to the President of the United States, played by Alfre Woodard. The women’s intertwined histories only add to the pressures of the job: Heigl’s character, Charleston “Charlie” Tucker, was engaged to the Commander in Chief’s son before a terrorist attack claimed his life, and she’s still searching for answers about his death. The show will be Heigl’s first regular television role since the actress left _Grey’s Anatomy_ in 2010, [_Entertainment Weekly_](http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/katherine-heigl-cia-drama-nbc-1201173637/ "undefined") notes. \[[_Variety_](http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/katherine-heigl-cia-drama-nbc-1201173637/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/90328/katherine-heigl-nbc-series-state-of-affairs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/90328/katherine-heigl-nbc-series-state-of-affairs/"},"headline":"Katherine Heigl Stars in New NBC Drama","datePublished":"2014-05-07T01:35:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:41:34.075Z","description":"Grey's Anatomy star Katherine Heigl will return to primetime in NBC's new State of Affairs as a CIA attaché tasked with giving daily briefings on global incidents to the President, a role played by Alfre Woodard","url":"https://time.com/90328/katherine-heigl-nbc-series-state-of-affairs/","keywords":["Television","celebrities","NBC"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3526b0c2c19f8125/69868e2f1eebf79922370c4a/katherine-heigl-state-of-affairs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3526b0c2c19f8125/69868e2f1eebf79922370c4a/katherine-heigl-state-of-affairs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Katherine Heigl","caption":"Katherine Heigl","creditText":"Dan Steinberg—Invision/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/90328/katherine-heigl-nbc-series-state-of-affairs/","name":"Katherine Heigl Stars in New NBC Drama"}}]}] ```