Saying goodbye isn’t easy. For Luke Baines, it was almost the exact opposite when Shadowhunters wrapped its final episode. In fact, it included a great deal of “Claire Danes-style” ugly crying.
In the new issue of Us Weekly, Baines opens up about what he’s learned from playing Jonathan Morgenstern on the hit Freeform series, along with his final days on set of the fantasy show.
“It was obviously hard for everyone to say goodbye because the cast and crew has become such a close-knit family,” the actor, 28, tells Us about the show, which wrapped in August. “But I think it felt particularly bittersweet as I’d just joined the show, and in many ways, it was a dream job that I’d waited a really long time for.”
Read more of the interview below and even more in Us Weekly, on stands now.
Us Weekly: What three words would you use to explain the finale?
Luke Baines: A fitting farewell.
Us: What are you going to miss the most about the set and about playing Jonathan?
LB: I think I’ll miss the incredible stunt team the most. I was really thrown in the deep end, because Jonathan’s supposed to be a heavily-trained fighter. But the trainers supported me so wonderfully. They went above and beyond to make me look much more skilled than I actually am. On a personal level, they changed the way I think about myself and made me so much more confident to stand my ground. It’s something that will never leave me, and for that, I’ll be eternally grateful.
Us: Even though he’s obviously evil, how did you relate to him and end up caring about him?
LB: I think caring about your character is one of the most important things you can do as an actor because when you care, you feel deeply compelled to bring justice to telling their story in its entirety. That’s very much something that happened to me with Jonathan. Perhaps I’m a naive optimist, but I believe there’s good in everyone and sometimes people’s actions aren’t always a reflection of who they are. In Jonathan’s case, he was abandoned by his mother, experimented on by his father and tortured by his foster parent. That makes for a very tormented individual. At the end of the day, all he really wants is to belong – to find his place in the world. And that’s something I connect with completely.
The 2.5-hour final episode of Shadowhunters airs on Freeform Monday, May 6, at 8 p.m. ET.
