Mare of Easttown’s final scene almost never happened, says Kate Winslet

This article contains spoilers for the series finale of the HBO drama

The final shot in Mare of Easttown, a moment described by fans as “perfect”, almost never happened.

The series came to an end with a shock twist on Sunday (30 May), leaving many viewers calling for its lead Kate Winslet to “win all the awards”.

But the actor has now revealed that the very last scene nearly looked very different.

***Warning: spoilers ahead***

In the ending viewers saw, after Erin McMenamin’s murder was solved, detective Mare (Winslet) climbed up the ladder into her attic, where her son died by suicide. The shot symbolised her readiness to confront her grief.

Discussing the moving scene, Winslet – who executive produced the series – told Variety she had conversations with creator Brad Ingelsby and director Craig Zobel about whether the show should just end at a poignant earlier moment between Mare and Lori (Julianne Nicholson).

“We said, ‘Does it feel like we’re doing two endings? Do we really need Mare going in the attic?’” she recalled.

They decided to shoot the attic scene and see how it came out. Ultimately, they decided to use it.

“You can’t start confronting grief until the time is right,” Winslet said. “That time might come right away or it could come two years later. At that moment – Mare going up into the attic – all I could hope was that people would come with her, in a way.

“That is for me what that moment is, and I think it is the beginning of her facing what she hasn’t been able to face.”

(HBO)

Winslet recently revealed the unlikely inspiration behind her portrayal of Mare.

In a five-star review for The Independent, Ed Cumming described the Mare of Easttown finale as “the ending the series deserves, a feat of poise and resolution that ties up its straggly ends without recourse to stunts or ex machina hi-jinks”.

In the UK, Mare of Easttown can be watched on Sky and Now.