(Photo: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson)Actress Kyra Sedgwick from the TV show "The Closer" arrives at the 17th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, California January 30, 2011.Tonight marks the end of a 7-year run for Kyra Sedgwick and the cast of TNT's hit drama, "The Closer." Sedgwick has released a new video telling fans goodbye and thanks for "coming along."
"I certainly think that this last season, these last six episodes, the journey is right. The ending is right," Sedgwick has said in a new behind-the-scenes video released by TNT. Sedgwick made the character of Brenda Leigh Johnson come alive for millions of fans and earned several awards for her portrayal of the Southern, tough-as-nails deputy chief.
The final season has been an emotional roller coaster for fans and the characters of "The Closer," which has seen a dramatic increase in viewership as the series winds down. Yet the series almost didn't happen, at least not with Sedgwick in the lead role.
"I read the script and thought it was great," Sedgwick told The Hollywood Reporter. "I saw so many possibilities for this Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, so much potential. Kevin [Bacon, Sedgwick's husband] said, 'How is it?' I said, 'It's great but I can't do it because of the kids; it's so far away.'"
The Bacon-Sedgwick family did decide to relocate to Los Angeles, and "The Closer" took off to great success. After seven years, Sedgwick has said she will "deeply miss my cast members and my crew, who have become a close family."
Sedgwick is already hard at work on a new film, "The Possession," which many are comparing to "The Exorcist." That film is due at the end of August, and will give "Closer" fans an opportunity to see Sedgwick on the big screen once again.
The impact that "The Closer" has had on mainstream TV has been profound and has been cited for opening doors for older actresses to take on title roles.
"The idea that I can have anything to do with the possibility of more opportunities opening up for women is wonderful," she explained. "You take it one day at a time. That was what we did [on 'The Closer']. Then it became a phenomenon, but you never know that going in."
"The Closer" airs its final episode tonight at 9:00 p.m. EST on TNT.
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