Katherine Heigl changes hair color to show commitment to her new role as Stephanie Plum

Readers of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series who were disconcerted by Variety's February 8, 2010 announcement of the choice of actress Katherine Heigl to play the role of Stephanie in the new film One for the Money now face another surprise. The blond actress has already gone brunette in preparation for her new role.

Actress Katherine Heigl, winner of the Female Star of the
Year Award,  at the ShoWest Final Night Talent Awards in
Las Vegas on March 18, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

No date has yet been set to begin filming the Columbia Pictures and Lakeshore Entertainment film adaptation of One for the Money, the first book in the sixteen that compose author Janet Evanovich's mystery series. However, in a March 24, 2010 Access Hollywood article, Heigl said that she had decided to make the change in her hair color early.

Heigl stated that she had two reasons for her action. She wanted "to get into the role of a bounty hunter with attitude from Trenton, N.J.," but, more importantly, she also hoped to convince the fans of Evanovich's novels that she was totally committed to make the film a success. Heigl explained:

I just wanted the fans to know [how committed I am], because blonde Katie Heigl probably wasn’t people’s idea of Stephanie Plum from New Jersey. . . . I just thought that I wanted to get [the Stephanie Plum fans] on board now; I can do this. I’m committing to her. . . .I want you to know that I am not going to disappoint, or I’m going to try not to.” 

The newly-brunette Katherine Heigl
on the March 26, 2010 cover of
Entertainment Weekly.

Heigl recently left the ABC medical drama "Grey's Anatomy," where she starred for six seasons in the role of Dr. Izzie Stevens. “I started a family and it changed everything for me. . . .It changed my desire to work full-time,” Heigl commented on the arrival of Naleigh, the daughter she and her husband, Josh Kelley, adopted last year.

In addition to the Stephanie Plum film, Heigl has several other projects currently underway. She will star with Ashton Kutcher in Killers, which premiers on June 4, 2010, and with Josh Duhamel in Life As We Know It , due out December 22, 2010.