‘Evil’ Stars Share Memories of ‘Emotional’ & ‘Bittersweet’ Last Day on Set

For the Evil cast, going back to film the final episodes and the last day on set were emotional. The series is ending on August 22 after four seasons, but fortunately, Robert and Michelle King were given four bonus episodes to wrap up the story.

That ending will also “leave an opening to imagine much more story,” Katja Herbers (who plays Kristen) told TV Insider, “which is a very deliberate choice by Robert and Michelle to both give the viewers a gratifying potential end and an opening for more should a streamer want to pick it up.”

But for now, it will be the end, and so “it wasn’t easy,” Herbers admitted, to film the bonus episodes, “knowing that it would end. I felt very grateful for the show and very grateful for all the people that I got to work with and all the friends that I’ve made. And I think that made me a little nostalgic and emotional, and it also just felt like a mistake. I would wake up in the middle of the night and I was like, ‘Wait a second. This is not right. I need to fix something as though something’s [wrong].’ It was really wonderful to be able to all be together and make it.”

For Aasif Mandvi (who plays Ben), it was emotional as well. “The last day on set was obviously incredibly bittersweet. It was an exhausting few days because there was a lot of stuff that we were shooting. My last day was one of the very last scenes of the show, and I didn’t finish shooting until four o’clock in the morning, so we were all really exhausted,” he shared.

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“Whenever you are coming to that point at the end of a series where each actor has their last moment on the show, it’s always kind of an emotional moment. We’ve all been so close, we’ve worked so hard, we feel like we’ve done such great work on the show. It’s been such a rewarding experience and such an incredible show that we created that we’re incredibly proud of,” he continued. “And so when each actor had to say goodbye, it was emotional, I won’t lie to you. So you’re battling the physical exhaustion of working, of shooting and working against the emotions of saying goodbye to these people who you’ve been working with for so long.”

It’s a sentiment shared by Kurt Fuller (who plays Dr. Boggs). “I cried,” he revealed. “The Kings called to tell me the show wasn’t getting picked up, and I started thanking them for putting me on the show. I’ve known them forever. We were neighbors. Our kids would play together years ago. I just started crying. The poor Kings, that’s the last thing on Earth they want is an actor to start crying while they’re telling him the show’s not coming back.”

He explained, “I have so much wrapped up in them. It was already high emotion, but we’re all professionals. We have a job to do, and we all came in and did it like professionals. We all love each other. There’s never been a bad day on set. There’s never been an angry moment on that set in four and a half years. But we were very sad. Robert made a speech on my last day and then I talked to the crew and everybody and it was a love fest, but it was real. It wasn’t one of those showbizzy things. It’s not a showbizzy set at all.”

He added, “It was very hard. I’m really proud of this show. I’m proud to be a part of it. Whatever part of it I am, even when I have—anything that helps the story, it’s so good. Anything I do that contributes, I’m happy. I’m so in awe of what everyone has done. I did this series called Psych that I was very proud of in a whole different way. It was a much, much different thing, but it’s very rare when all the elements come together and make something be the best it can possibly be. And I think that Evil was one of those shows, one of the two I’ve ever done.”

Elizabeth Fisher / CBS

Andrea Martin (who plays Sister Andrea) got emotional thinking back to that last day. “It was so moving. Robert directed the episode. I’m going to cry when I think about it. He gave a speech in the last scene that we shot together that was so moving, and then I spoke to the crew who—I know actors always talk about, ‘Oh, and we love the crews.’ This felt so special because the sets for Evil were so intimate,” she said. “Mostly we shot in the studio, so there wasn’t a lot of travel, and we had the same crew all the time. And I don’t know, I guess I talked as Andrea, the actress, but really I talked as Sister Andrea to everybody and said I wish them and Robert a life full of faith like Sister Andrea had and belief and joy, and it was a real opportunity to be able to connect with them as the character and say what really was in my heart, the gratitude I felt that Sister Andrea had toward them, so it was special.”

How do you think Evil is going to end? Let us know in the comments section, below.

Evil, Series Finale, Thursday, August 22, Paramount+