The actress also talks Susie’s long-awaited vulnerability and the arc of her career as a manager.
Warning: This story contains spoilers about the series finale ofThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,“Four Minutes.”
Susie Myerson (Alex Borstein) is finally getting the respect she deserves.
Alex Borstein on ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’.Philippe Antonello/Prime Video
But she soon learns her efforts paid off when Midge is officially booked onThe Gordon Ford Show.
And she gives Midge the greenlight to go rogue when a golden opportunity and silver microphone present themselves.
What was your reaction the first time you read that?
Rachel Brosnahan and Alex Borstein on ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’.Amazon Prime Video
ALEX BORSTEIN:We all loved that too.
Were you surprised by how much she reveals in that automat scene?
That she would be that vulnerable.
It was real tricky for me to venture to do that.
What did you find to be the saddest detail of the story about Hedy?
Then, the moment when Midge says, “I think you’ll find love again.”
And Susie looks at her and asks if she was ever a blonde.
She has found her love again.
How fun was that to film?
[Executive producer] Dan Palladino and I wrote together onFamily Guy.
He was my boss there.
That’s kind of what I had in my head, trying to be equally as grating and annoying.
We had to do it so many times too.
That was a really fun thing to shoot, but it was a lot.
We were also able to play with it in ADR when we do the additional dialogue in a booth.
I was able to change them up or add more.
I think she had me add more.
That was annoying for the whole crew.
We get to this exchange between Midge and Susie, where she gives her blessing to go rogue.
Susie says, “You started your career by getting on a stage no one told you to.”
How did that hit you the first time you read it?
We couldn’t get through it.
Even at the table read, it felt so dense, it felt heavy.
It was hard to get it out.
While we were rehearsing it, I started crying at that part.
My character’s already teary, you’ve got the option to see her.
It was like, “Oh my God, there’s no disguising this.”
But it’s so true.
At that point they just felt like, what the hell do we have to lose?
There’s nothing to lose and everything to gain and why start caring what people think now?
Yes, I was processing it and it was very hard to get out, as you could hear.
As Alex, it was the last time I was going to be looking into Rachel’s eyes.
I don’t know that we’ll ever work together again.
We probably won’t.
It felt heavy and important and like the world was at stake and that’s what the scene required.
So it was perfect.
We saw more of the trajectory of Susie’s life in episode 6.
From the beginning, she was never chasing romance.
She was never chasing fame.
She just wanted respect and financial security.
Do you think ultimately she was pleased with the way her life turned out?
What all of that work, all of that sacrifice afforded her to buy was peace.
Peace of mind and peace and quiet.
She achieved what she wanted to achieve.
And she was able to do that.
Not many people are.
She has Midge still, in a way.
Midge is still in her life and still there.
In many ways, she got what exactly what she wanted.
Did you establish where specifically she’s living in this lovely tropical enclave in the final scene?
It’s funny, when we had our finale celebration, my parents were there and they watched it.
I was like, “What are you talking about?”
She goes, “Well, wasn’t that supposed to be Australia?”
I’m like, “No.
It’s Los Angeles.”
She just ended up on the west coast.
She wanted that peace and that quiet.
She’s a west coaster.
What was your reaction?
Did you expect [creator] Amy Sherman-Palladino to end it in that fashion?
I had heard rumblings.
That was their thing.
I know that she had that up her sleeve.
I did not know how it would be.
I did not know that we would be across the continent.
I didn’t know that they would be stuck together alone and yet not alone.
So that was a surprise.
And it was worrying.
It’s a very good rule when you have a scene that’s that meaningful.
And you shot that phone call before you filmed all of the Gordon Ford stuff?
Gordon Ford was the very last thing.
How was the old age make-up experience for you?
Oh, it was brutal.
First of all, it’s disconcerting to see yourself aged.
They really wanted to get it right too.
There was a lot of back and forth about how something should look.
They had me in to do a 3D image of my face.
We did that in Los Angeles long before we went into production.
Of course, they aged me much more than my mother.
And it’s hard to know if you’re being effective as an actor with the make-up.
It’s working."
Do you think it’s fitting that in the end Susie and Midge only have each other?
I think it makes sense.
In a different day and age, Miriam’s future would’ve been very different.
Even 10 years later.
The kids would’ve been much more at ease with the tremendous want that lived inside of their mother.
I found it very believable and a very well-written arc for these characters on what they went through.
It’s quite touching that the last thing we hear is the two of them laughing.
Was that something you knew from the time you were shooting or was that a post-production thing?
In post-production, they had us add a few things.
The laughter became stronger and they wanted it held a little bit longer.
So I’m very curious to see how it is pieced together.
How did knowing their laughter is the last thing we hear hit you?
It’s absolutely appropriate.
The greatest romance, the love story of this show is Midge and Susie.
And the laughter is their offspring.
It’s the children they created, and that’s what they have.
That’s what they share.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
