Kyra Sedgwick has had an amazing career in the role of Brenda Leigh Johnson on TNT's hit crime series "The Closer." Now, seven years and one Emmy later, Sedgwick is bidding goodbye to the role that changed her career as the show comes to an end tonight with a very strong series finale.
"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 seem so real and relatable for millions of fans. The 46-year old actress earned several awards for her portrayal of the Southern, tough-as-nails deputy chief.
Sedgwick, who is married to actor Kevin Bacon and have two children with him, was at first hesitant to take the role because she would have to uproot her family from New York City to Los Angeles. After careful thought and consideration, Sedgwick took the plunge and went for it, and it surely has paid off.
"I was 39 when 'The Closer' started," Sedgwick told THR. "It certainly wasn't intentional for me to have a groundbreaking show. It just happened to be. The idea that I can have anything to do with the possibility of more opportunities opening up for women is wonderful. At the time, I didn't think big-picture that much. I went where my gut tells me, where the character seems interesting and where the writing seems good. You take it a day at a time. That was what we did. Then it became a phenomenon, but you never know that going in."
Sedgwick bids goodbye to "The Closer" with the 9 p.m. finale on Monday night, ushering in "Major Crimes," starring Mary McDonnell. McDonnell stars in the role of Internal Affairs cop Sharon Raydor, replacing Sedgwick's sweet yet tenacious character, reports Bloomberg.
"It isn't like that at all," McDonnell told USA Today. "Chief Johnson had this particular knack in the way she broke through to the truth and got to the confessions, and that was a very personal thing that she carried. We're not going to try to repeat that with a different character. "What we're doing is putting a different character into the mix and then having this particular group of beloved characters all together say, 'How do we solve crimes now? Where's our best way through? How do we become something unique?'"
