Why Katherine Heigl Loves to Get Nasty in Unforgettable

You can only be good for so long.

Katherine Heigl has enjoyed playing what she calls the "goofy neurotic fun-loving gal," but when the thriller "Unforgettable" came along, she leaped at the chance to explore her dark side as Tessa, a woman who isn't dealing well with her ex-husband's new fiancee, played by Rosario Dawson.

"It would be challenging, totally different for me. I've done some creepy characters in the past -- but no one every saw those particular projects -- but I hadn't done it in a long time," she tells Made in Hollywood reporter Julie Harkness Arnold. "And I thought I just want to dive into this woman's mind."

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As Heigl examined her character, she realized that Tessa was more than a one-dimensional villainess.

"I felt some sympathy for her, some compassion for her," says Heigl. "I thought this would be interesting. Can I do that? She is essentially a monster. But can I create a monster with a heartbreak, that you can feel for her?"

Helping her do that was the fact the story contained issues and situations many people could relate to, from coping with divorce to meeting a new love's former flame, while still allowing Heigl to let loose, including one scene in which she confronts Dawson.

"That was really fun to play because it was just diving into Tessa's diabolical mind and enjoying that cat-andmouse game," says Heigl. "She loves that game and she knows she's going to win that game."