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The chant Firefly Lane girls forever!
(L to R) Sarah Chalke as Kate, Katherine Heigl as Tully in episode 216.
And she told Johnny she wanted him to find happiness again.
The endingalthough devastatingly emotionalwas also incredibly uplifting and hopeful.
Everything is open, Friedman toldGlamourat the time.
(L to R) Ben Lawson as Johnny, Sarah Chalke as Kate in episode 212.
(And with that said, we wouldn’t have wanted to know ahead of time.)
For Sarah Chalke, the second half of season two contained her favorite episodes of the series.
It was a really special job, she says.
(L to R) Katherine Heigl as Tully, Sarah Chalke as Kate in episode 211.
I’m so sad it’s over.
To have this experience is such a gift.
Glamour: How did you react when you found out Kate would pass away in the finale?
(L to R) Katherine Heigl as Tully, Sarah Chalke as Kate in episode 216.
I thought it was really special the way it was written.
I was excited and partly nervous about it.
I can’t imagine what it was like filming those scenes.
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You are not going to find anybody whose life hasn’t been touched by cancer.
Lots of crew members came up to me over those months and shared their experiences with me.
It was a really challenging but also special experience.
Were you hoping Kate would get a different ending than the one in the book?
I loved the ending and how she wrote it.
Whether Kate dies or not, there are so many different routes you could go.
I thought it was beautifully written.
I loved that it did.
It allowed for so much more.
The final episode opens with Kate and Tully talking in the mirror before Mara’s wedding starts in 2016.
How did that scene affect you?
I remember filming on that day.
We’re looking into the mirror, but then beyond the mirror is just ocean forever.
At that point, every scene is emotional.
I remember doing that scene so well.
How do you think viewers will react?
It’s going to be different for every audience member.
But I thought it was special.
It was a great idea that Maggie brought Kate into that day.
Was that the most challenging scene to film?
There are so many emotional ones in these final seven episodes.
We’re doing this.
And then when I read the letter during the funeral to Tully.
I would just start crying.
It’s such an emotional scene, and then it’s the leaf blower.
It was so loud.
It took a long time.
Oh my god, it was so difficult.
That is so rude!
It’s devastating, but there’s also so much joy there.
You don’t even go into the funeral.
It was such a great choice and such a unique choice.
And then the scene where I die, when I’m looking out at the ocean.
I look out, and there was this sailboat sailing by.
It was all there.
I didn’t have to imagine any of these beautiful things.
It was just beautiful.
Where does this experience rank for you in your career?
There was not a day that I was driving to work that I wasn’t going, What?
How did this happen?
I’m not kidding.
To have this experience is such a gift.
It was stretching me out of my comfort zone all the time.
I had to sing, which for me is the most terrifying thing in the world.
Or run around in my nylons and bra.
Or do a scene where it was pretty much a pratfall off the back of a chair.
To have that all mushed together in one role is crazy rare.
We had so much fun.
I mean, I’m doing scenes where we’re just crying into each other’s shoulders.
As a full cast, we had so much fun.
There was a lot of really great people on the show.
Did you take anything of Kate’s with you?
Yes, my Madonna outfit.
I have the teal suede suit with the skirt and jacket and the matching teal wedge heels.
What was the last scene that you filmed for the show?
You’re saying goodbye at different parts and at different moments.
It was not an emotional scene at all.
But because it was the last night, a bunch of crew members put on jean cutoff shorts.
It just becomes one big celebration.
This interviewed has been edited for length and clarity.
