TVLINE | Lastly, what did it mean to you when the show got its Season 2 pick up? Because I imagine that for an actress, this was probably one of the most precarious situations to walk into.
Mary McDonnell: I absolutely agree, it was. There was the pressure and the risk factor of taking on this spin-off, stepping in as Sharon Raydor, everything that it implied to just sort of follow the legendary Closer. You had to approach it with a lot of humility and commitment and not get caught up in “success or failure,” any of the externals. But I knew that. I’ve been doing this for a long time, so I know how the horse race is successfully won — you put your head down and you do your best. But then when you get your head up, you go, “Did it work? Have we succeeded?” Because if it didn’t succeed, a great deal of that will land in my lap just because I’m so visible. But I knew it was succeeding on the floor when we were shooting it, so I said to myself, “Calm down. This is working. This is going to work. I know this is going to work.” And it worked so successfully, actually, that it was thrilling. When we got picked up, all I could think about was I’d been granted relief, tremendous relief. But what I really felt relief for was the 250 to 300 people who would continue to be employed. This is a huge production company, and they’ve been working now together for eight years. That’s a lot of families, a lot of mortgages, a lot of lives and their hopes and dreams, and commitments continuing. In this time of recession and unemployment, [earning a renewal] felt fabulous.
Read the entire interview here.
The Major Crimes family just got a little bigger!
Robert Gossett (Assistant Chief Taylor) has become the second part-time player from Major Crimes to also been promoted this season to a series regular. Last week it was announced that Jonathan Del Arco (Dr. Morales) will also be a regular this season.
