‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ Stars Process The End Of Their Emmy-Winning Comedy: “It’s One Of The Hardest Breakups I’ve Ever Had”

Since The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel first premiered in 2017, the series has served as a stable source of laughter, a well of remarkable talent, a constant reminder to keep our tits up, a love letter to friendship, and so much more. In honor of its series finale, which premiered on Prime Video May 26, Decider is sending Amy Sherman-Palladino’s show off in style with some touching tributes from its stars.

Ahead of Maisel‘s fifth and final season premiere in April, we asked cast members Rachel Brosnahan, Alex Borstein, Luke Kirby, Tony Shalhoub, and Alfie Fuller what it was like wrapping this incredible series and stepping away from the sensational world and characters they’d brought to life over the years.

From heartfelt goodbyes and emotional looks back on the series to finale thoughts and more, here’s what the stars of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel have to say about their beloved series coming to an end.

• Rachel Brosnahan, Midge Maisel

  As the inimitable Rachel Brosnahan attempted to reflect on the series wrapping and the life-changing role of Midge Maisel, she said, “It’s been surreal.”

  “It also feels like, even though we said goodbye in November — on set to these characters, and to this world, and to each other, that we haven’t said the final goodbye. We get to come back together and talk about this final season…We get to share the final season with fans. And we get to keep talking about it for a little bit longer. So I feel like it may not hit until we don’t come back in January for the first time,” she continued.

  When she looks back at Midge’s wild journey from housewife to stand-up comedian, she’s more than content with where her character landed, saying, “We couldn’t have dreamt it up. We were so surprised when we read the final script.” On the final scene of the series, which stars Midge and Susie, Brosnahan had this to say: “It just feels so fitting that they end together, but apart, you know? They’re still there for each other. They’re still the primary love story; the center of the show. They’ve also had their own lives and their own pasts, but even being on the other side of the country can never take away this special bond that they have. And that they end laughing…”

• Alex Borstein, Susie Meyerson

  Unlike Brosnahan, Alex Borstein was already processing her post-Maisel grief when we spoke. “It still hurts, you know? It’s gonna be a while. It’s one of the hardest breakups I’ve ever had. You’re not just saying goodbye to this character that you’ve inhabited, you’re saying goodbye to a piece of yourself. And then this family that you’ve invested in for six years of working and five seasons of TV, and the arc of your character becomes a piece of your life, and all of a sudden you drop off and you separate and it’s hard,” she told Decider over Zoom. “On the one hand, it’s really wonderful when you know it’s going to be the last season. You have the foresight, and you can plan. In another way, it’s daunting. Every scene is one step closer to the last time you’re gonna play that character. And our last week in particular was really brutal.”

  After discussing Season 5’s Gilmore Girls cameos and time jumps, Borstein took a moment to reflect on Susie’s character development throughout the series. “She’s opened. You know? A lot of characters grow and change. I think Susie kind of just turned inside out. I think she let herself wear her heart on her sleeve a little bit more and let Midge inside,” she said. “That was really fun. It’s always scary though. It’s always scary being vulnerable as a character or yourself. And if you show that, can you then still make the character believable as a badass and have heart? And can you pop the shell back on the armor if you come out of it? And I think that was a difficult part to balance the two things.”

  And of course, she had thoughts on her final scene with Brosnahan as well. “In some ways it was hard not being in the same room with Rachel shooting that. In some ways it was so hard to not have the characters side by side on a couch,” Borstein said. “But it also feels right, you know? Amy wrote where she felt that the trajectory would lead these two, and but I’m very eager to see how it feels when you watch it, how it plays to know what the music is like under it. How they edited it, how they cut it.”

• Luke Kirby, Lenny Bruce

  “Goodbyes are rarely easy, but I think necessary,” Kirby, who won an Emmy for his portrayal of late comedian Lenny Bruce on the series, told Decider over Zoom. “I haven’t said goodbye to him entirely, and don’t know that I ever will until the bitter end. It’s sad. It’s sad and hard to leave something special. But that all serves as a reminder of how lucky it is in the first place to even participate in anything.”

  When asked about his takeaway from the life-changing role, Kirby said, “You know, Lenny Bruce said there are never enough ‘I love yous.’ And that has stayed with me through every season. I think I’ll carry it with me, right to that last gasp. So that’s the one for me.”

  You can read Decider’s full interview with Kirby to hear more about his experience on the show, his big series finale scenes, and his love for Lenny Bruce.

• Tony Shalhoub, Abe Weissman

  Another Emmy-winning Maisel man is Tony Shalhoub who’s portrayed Midge’s complex, fiercely intelligent, deeply stubborn dad Abe Weissman throughout the series. When reflecting on Abe’s emotional epiphany in Season 5, Episode 8, Shalhoub took a moment to take stock of his character’s development and reflect on working with Brosnahan.

  “I’ve been working on Abe’s trajectory and this relationship, and it’s evolved over the seasons…” Shalhoub told Decider. “…Just focusing on Rachel and having had this experience of working with Rachel for over the past five years, six years, it’s easy. It’s easy to be that moved and that invested.”

  When asked how he about Season 5 being Maisel‘s last, he said, “We all were somewhat dreading the end of shooting. But on the other hand, I felt through Season 5 that because we knew it was the last nine episodes we were all savoring it even more than usual. We were just kind of sinking down into it and enjoying it. And we were sort of maybe even a little more hyper-focused on the moment-to-moment of it, and the time that we shared. So that that made it that made it really, really sweeter. And we knew that we trusted [the Palladinos] were going to bring it home in the right way. So we have that confidence going through it. Ultimately really, it was a good season. A good way to go.”

• Alfie Fuller, Dinah Rutledge

  Finally, Alfie Fuller opened up about playing Susie’s other right-hand girl, Dinah, and getting to explore her character in greater depth as a series regular in Season 5.

  “It was incredible. I love Dinah. I’m taking a lot of Dinah with me; her competency, how fast she works, how nothing seems to shake her. She can be thrown into something completely new and completely body it. That’s really a key element of Dinah that I love and cherish and will miss,” Fuller told Decider. “It’s been great working with Alex. I tried to make sure I was at the top of my game when I came in so that she didn’t feel like she would have to teach me how to, like, keep up. So it’s been wonderful. Just being able to work with such an icon.”

  “No one had to teach you anything,” Borstein assured her. “You came fully programmed.”

  As for stepping away from the series, Fuller says it’s definitely bittersweet. “I’m sad to leave these characters, right? But I’m also really excited to see what we’ve crafted this last season.”

All five seasons of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel are now streaming on Prime Video.