‘Mom’s Beth Hall Reflects on the Series Finale & Her Favorite Wendy Moments

Meaghan Darwish May 15, 2021, 5:00 pm

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Mom - Season 8 - Beth Hall and Jaime Pressly — Michael Yarish/©2021 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 8, Episode 18 of Mom, “My Kinda People and the Big To-Do.”]

Mom took its final bow during the May 13 finale episode which had its fair share of emotional moments, but the show’s most emotional character seemed to keep her cool.

Beth Hall‘s “Weeping” Wendy may not have shed any major tears, but she remained the butt of some jokes, as the series about women dealing with recovery and addiction came to a close. “That was great because Wendy embraced it,” Halls recalls of the finale joke that involved her being mistakenly referred to as Wanda. “She said, I liked it,” Hall adds of Wendy. “So, it was like, ‘that’s fine, whatever, as long as you call on me.'”

Below, Hall opens up about the show’s impact, what she hopes fans walk away with, plans for a post-finale celebration, her favorite Wendy moments, and more.

'Mom' Series Finale: What Did You Think of Bonnie's Ending? (POLL)

Your character Wendy has the nickname “Weeping Wendy” because she can get emotional at times, but she kept things under control in the finale. Were you as in control of yourself behind the scenes or was it an emotional final shoot?

Beth Hall: I think I did pretty well actually. I did surprisingly well because I am a crier in general, but I have my moments. It was weird. Certain things that you wouldn’t expect triggered it. The last restaurant read-through that we had before we did the last week of shooting, I walked in and all the writers were there. Because of COVID, we haven’t had the writers there all year, and they were all sitting there, distanced, masked in their chairs.

You couldn’t go up and hug them, but it was just realizing what we missed all year because of COVID, and how we won’t have that again, because the show was ending. So that was emotional for me. And some of the writers that were there this season were new and we had never even met them in person.

Are there any special plans for a post-season celebration once it’s safe to do so?

Yeah, they did talk about possibly having some kind of wrap party in a park, but now things are pretty rapidly improving, so I don’t know. Maybe we will have a party at some point. We have no audience to celebrate with us, no party. It was a tough year to end.

The finale felt like things came full circle for Bonnie (Allison Janney). How did you feel about the wrap-up?

Yeah, I understood the ending, that life goes on and that we will continue to support each other, and stay sober. I was pretty honored that I got to say the last line of the series. So that was cool.

What will you miss most about working on the show and playing Wendy?

Just going in there every day and seeing this cast and crew that I am so close to. It happens on every show. I think [you] just get so attached when you spend years with the same people, and our crew has been pretty consistent over the years. And so we’ve gotten used to how we work together. And so things will be different when you’re on a different set. That’s what I’ll miss. I’m certainly missing the cast.

What do you hope fans walk away feeling or knowing about these characters and this show’s impact?

Well, for every show, I hope that people walk away from it feeling something, whether it’s happiness, because it was a funny show, or emotional because it really touched on a serious topic. I think [Mom] made you feel. It wasn’t just silliness. So I hope that’s the legacy of the show, is that it was a funny show that made people feel, and it made a difference because it did make a difference in a lot of people’s lives, especially people who have an addiction.

Looking back, is there any storyline or moment for Wendy that you reflect on fondly?

A recent episode where I’m teaching Jill how to live in the moment. We got to dance class, and I’m not very good at the dance class, but I have a great time. And I really enjoyed doing that scene and doing the dance…. On a more emotional note, the scene I did with Allison after Mary’s (Mary Pat Gleason) death about nobody really knowing me, [I thought that scene with Bonnie was so touching].

Now that the cameras have stopped rolling, was there anything you swiped from set as a memento?

Nothing of Wendy’s. I actually took my director’s chair with my name on it. It was the first time I had [one]. They always have directors chairs out for people to just sit in while you’re waiting to go on. So I always sat in a chair that said cast or someone else’s name or nothing. And to have a chair with my name on it was a big thing for me when I became a series regular.

Mom, Streaming now, Paramount+