Geena Davis said she and the cast of The Boroughs were “terribly disappointed” about the Netflix show’s cancellation, revealing that they had not been told why the drama had been pulled after just one season.
The 70-year-old star opened up about The Boroughs in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, telling the publication that the role was “perfect” for her.
“Fortunately, the creators, who became our dear, dear friends, were able to tell us before the news came out, and we’re all terribly disappointed,” Davis said. “Honestly, I don’t know what happened. I think it’s probably rare for a show to not get picked up and to have it announced that it’s not being picked up while it’s still in the top 10.”
The Boroughs, created by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews, also starred Alfred Molina, Alfre Woodard, Denis O’Hare, Clarke Peters, and Bill Pullman. The show was produced by Matt and Ross Duffer, the mastermind producers behind Netflix’s Stranger Things.
Davis, an Academy Award-winning actress, said that she and the cast “didn’t expect” this outcome. However, she added that Season 1 did not end on a cliffhanger, at someone’s suggestion.
“The creators told us from the beginning that the series was not going to have a cliffhanger ending to the first season, that someone had advised them, ‘Make it its own thing. And if you come back to do another year, make that its own thing,’” Davis explained. “And we really did. There’s a tiny hint at the end that maybe everything isn’t fixed, but it is a complete story. And if we had made it as a limited series, then it would’ve been a big hit, and everybody would be happy.”
Davis said she would be open to returning to the series, whether through a revival or a spinoff. “We so fell in love with each other that we just wanted to keep working together,” she said of her fellow cast members. “I suggested that the creators write another series, a completely different story with the exact same actors and writers and crew, and we just do it again like an anthology series, right?”
The actress’s colleague, Dennis O’Hare, also expressed disappointment over the news. The 64-year-old actor said he was “bummed” about the series ending and encouraged fans to show their support by taking The Boroughs to the Emmys. “I think we still have a couple of days before the end of Emmy voting that everyone should just vote for The Boroughs. You can vote for me if you like,” he said on Instagram on Sunday.
Last Wednesday, Netflix abruptly announced the sci-fi series would end after its first season, which was released on May 21.
The decision came as a shock, since the series had garnered 35 million viewing hours in its first three days, according to Collider. The show was number one on the streaming site’s English TV list.
The buzzy sci-fi drama was well received by critics, earning a 97 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The Daily Beast’s Nick Schager praised its “intensely likable” cast and its successful take on “the sorrow, pain, and frustration of advanced age.”
“Ultimately, the best thing one can say about The Boroughs is that at the conclusion of its eight-episode debut run, one immediately craves more,” Schager wrote. “If Netflix is smart, they’ll keep this superior scary saga alive for a long time to come.”
