By Rick Bentley

The Fresno Bee

(TNS)

LOS ANGELES — Katherine Heigl won over TV audiences with her work in “Roswell” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” But a string of failed feature film romantic comedies — “27 Dresses,” “One for the Money,” “Life As We Know It” — killed her career momentum.

Now, she’s back on television to play a top CIA analyst in the new drama “State of Affairs.” She has a relationship with the President of the United States, played by Alfre Woodard, that goes beyond political boundaries. They have a bond through the President’s son.

Heigl jokes that the most daunting part about returning to a network TV series is trying to get people to believe she’s actually a CIA analyst. It may be her own biggest challenge, but playing a CIA analyst is the reason she came back to TV.

“What was so compelling to me is that this is an actual job, and I had never realized that. I’m not sure why, but a lot of people have asked me, ‘Does this really happen? Does the President have a briefer?’ And I thought the opportunity to delve into that and show this side of the CIA was really compelling,” Heigl says.

Toss in that she’s playing an intelligent woman who is a real patriot, who really believes that she can make a difference and help protect her country, and Heigl is delighted with the role. She’s also excited about the global possibilities for stories.

Heigl’s had some help getting ready to play the CIA analyst. One of the executive producers of “State of Affairs” is Rodney Faraon, who was a briefer during the Bush and Clinton administrations.

“He has all these really awesome stories that make you feel like maybe somebody is going to come knock down your door and drag you off somewhere for knowing. But he promised me that wouldn’t happen,” Heigl says with a smile.

Whenever Heigl hits an important part during the filming, she turns to Faraon for advice in how to play the scene.

Faraon stresses that while the series is a work of fiction, every effort is made to make the spirit of the stories as authentic as possible. That includes the time frame between when news comes into the office and the President is informed.

“You’d use that two hours to get all of the information you possibly can. One of the worst things you can do as a professional CIA analyst with the awesome responsibility of briefing the President of the United States is to go in there half cocked with just three words to say that this is what happened,” Faraon says.

The producers thought of Heigl immediately when they started putting the show together. Bob Simonds has been trying to work on a project with Heigl since he pursed her almost a decade ago to be in the big-screen version of “Bewitched.” Simonds and Heigl are going to make some movies together, but they started talking TV and found out Heigl was interested in getting back to he small screen.

She started looking at TV projects because Heigl realized that she had not taken onroles that would challenge her as an actress.

“I love doing romantic comedies. I love them, and I love watching them. But I stopped sort of exercising different muscles of my ability. And then in that moment I felt that I was sort of letting down my audience, that I wasn’t challenging them either,” Heigl says. “I think a lot of people want to know why this show, why come back to television. Because it’s an extraordinary role and it’s an extraordinary opportunity.”

Heigl’s return to TV comes with reports that she can be difficult. The actress doesn’t see herself that way, adding that she has always tried to act professionally, respectfully and kindly. If she has ever disappointed somebody, it was never intentional.

The cast also includes Adam Kaufman, Sheila Vand, Cliff Chamberlain, Tommy Savas and David Harbour.

‘STATE OF AFFAIRS’

10 p.m. Monday

NBC

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