After four years spent wondering will-they-or-won’t-they, CASTLE’s fantastic fourth season finale in May finally gave fans the answer they have been clamoring for! Now the only question remaining is what happens next? Will Castle and Beckett having officially consummated their relationship effect the hit ABC series going forward and more importantly will the show ever be the same? We recently caught up with one half of the show’s dynamic duo to find out just that. What follows, is a candid conversation with star Stana Katic who offers up her take on how coupledom will effect the show and what fans might expect from a more flirty and fun Kate Beckett.
How far in advance leading up to last season’s finale were you aware that the show was finally going to take Castle and Beckett you-know-where?!
Stana Katic: Probably towards the last quarter of last season, Andrew [Showrunner Andrew Marlowe] sat me down and gave me the general trajectory for the rest of the season and tried to explain how the writers were going to start dropping in little things throughout the episodes so that viewers could connect the dots.
Having already gone on record as being for a Castle/Beckett relationship, is it safe to say that this was a long time coming?
Yes. It needed to happen. The characters have been through so much together, all sorts of life harrowing experiences and spent so much time together that I think that if we held off any longer the show would have lost credibility. It was time. If a writer follows the trajectory of a character there comes a point where the character is saying this next stage has to happen and we were there.
As an actress, what excited you about this new direction for your character?
We are navigating new waters right now and that’s something that Andrew was very clear about at the beginning of the year. He said, “Be prepared to discover elements of Beckett that we haven’t played before.” Because we’re getting to see her in an intimate relationship and we’re on the inside of that, we’re not just viewing it peripherally like when she was dating Josh Davidson for instance. So the person that Beckett is when she is in a relationship might be different than the person that she is solving a crime. It’s very exciting actually and definitely stimulating as an actor.
How do you think Castle’s family are going to react to the news?
I think the journey with Castle family is Castle’s journey. Nathan probably would know better as I would imagine that Andrew understands how he wants to develop that. But Castle is not going to keep it a secret from his family for too long and I don’t think Beckett would keep it a secret from her work family for too long. Unfortunately the realities of unveiling that in the precinct are that Beckett won’t be able to work with Castle because they have a policy about co-workers dating. We have that obstacle to overcome but as far as Castle’s family I think that’s more of a Castle journey.
interesting. I was not familiar with that particularly NYPD policy at the precinct!
Definitely, they have to keep it a secret otherwise they risk not being able to work together any longer. Which I think is a nice plot point, it creates a wonderful conflict for us.
Having shot a few episodes with Castle and Beckett as a couple now, what’s been the most surprising thing about this new dynamic?
I had a really great time last season and I felt that the writers did a really nice job of developing individual characters and building story lines for each of the characters that would help them blossom more. Last season they had secrets that they felt were for the good of each other but this season I’m having a blast now that Castle and Beckett are on the same team. We really get to dig in as to what it means for these two to be in a relationship, not just a working relationship but a romantic relationship and I think it’s great. I’m having a really fun time exploring that and I think that Andrew is mining a lot of the fun out of that.
And finally, near the end of tonight’s season premiere you have a fantastic scene opposite a character that we won’t spoil for those who have yet to see it. It’s a scene that some might call an “Award-worthy” performance. Does it bother you at all given how much work goes into developing your character that the Academy simply doesn’t recognize shows like CASTLE?
I don’t know. I think that the meat of performing comes from experiencing the scene and awards are exciting only because what that ends up doing is it ends up pulling focus to a show and creating more opportunities to have bigger story lines perhaps and that’s just the business of it. But I think the best part for me is to be able to get into a scene with a great actor and play with really good writing. So as long as I get that I think I’ll be satisfied and I’m not really concerned about the other end of it.
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CASTLE Season Five kicks off on Monday September 24th at 10PM on ABC (CTV in Canada)