Yahoo News Gavin & Stacey’s Joanna Page left ‘hysterically crying’ on final day filming
The actor and her co-stars Mathew Horne, Rob Brydon, James Corden and Ruth Jones reflect on ending the BBC sitcom this festive season.
Come Christmas Day Gavin & Stacey will be airing for the final time with a festive special that will likely have its fans crying their eyes out while saying goodbye to their favourite characters, and the cast felt much the same when they had to do so on their last day on set.
Speaking ahead of the final episode's release, Stacey star Joanna Page admitted she was left "hysterically crying" on her last day on set because of how much it moved her to end her tenure on the BBC sitcom — and she even described her final day on set as being "traumatic" because of it. Little is known about the final episode's storyline, other than it will follow directly on from the shocking cliffhanger the characters were left on — with Nessa (Ruth Jones) proposing to Smithy (James Corden).
"Being on set for the last time with everybody for the last day was traumatic," Page said. "I knew I was going to cry as soon as I walked on set. I saw Steve's face, our first AD, and I just burst out crying. Then I saw Sophie Hebron, our second AD, and I burst out crying again.
"So then I went into my trailer and Julia Davis came in and sat with me, and I couldn't stop crying, because it just felt it was such a huge journey that was ending. So I found it very emotional but then in between that, hysterically funny because the last scene we filmed was a funny one, so I just alternated between hysterically crying and hysterically laughing."
Page went on: "Right at the very end, on our last bit of filming, I just got this sense of calm wash over me. I remember standing there and looking around at everybody and everybody's faces, and I just remember smiling quite calmly to myself and thinking ‘wow, look where we've all come, look where we all are now’.
"I delivered my last lines, the way that I wanted to, and the way that I needed to, and then when they shouted, 'it's a wrap' and then they clapped all of us goodbye and I just hugged Mat, and we both stood there crying."
Read more:
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Mathew Horne reflected on how his career will be defined by the sitcom for decades to come, mirroring Page's sentiment when he said that the last day on set was "incredibly emotional".
"It felt very much like the end of an era, but the love and friendship between the cast — my second family — will not end," he said. "There’s something very beautiful about that. Gavin Shipman will be on my epitaph, I assume, but the show will live on long after I’m gone."
Rob Brydon, who plays Stacey's uncle Bryn West, called the last day they filmed together a "hugely emotional" experience, adding: "It would hit me at times when we were filming big scenes with lots of people. We do a fair bit in Pam and Mick’s house, and just seeing everybody there, I would find myself filling up with tears just looking at them.
"That might sound a little bit overly dramatic I suppose to some people, but you have to understand that it's been 17 years. That's a long time... So it was just wonderful. It really was. It was just wonderful, and unlike anything else I've ever done."
The special is once again written by Jones and Corden, with the former admitting there "was a mixture of excitement, nostalgia and sadness" when writing the final episode.
Jones explained: "Sad of course because this is the last time these characters will ever be on screen again, but so exciting to bring them to life again. And nostalgic because we’d be on set with the cast and we’d go down memory lane remembering the early episodes.
"We often reminisced about Maggie John who’s no longer with us but we felt she was in spirit, especially when we were on Trinity Street. It’s always so enjoyable to be in the room writing with James."
Corden, for his part, said that the series has "changed [his] life in every way", so writing the final episode was a big moment.
"The thing it means to me most is my friendship with Ruth," he said. "To have an idea with a friend in a hotel in Leeds 20 years ago and then be sat here today with what it’s become… if you think about it too much you could really just start crying all the time. I love her so much and I’m so proud of what we’ve done."
The final Gavin & Stacey episode airs Christmas Day on BBC One at 9pm, it will also be available on BBC iPlayer.
