Filming Monday’s Shadowhunters season finale (Freeform, 8/7c) was a dream for star Katherine McNamara — even if the episode is basically one long nightmare for her character.
“These are the moments you dream of as an actress,” McNamara tells TVLine of filming the grueling episode. “They’re emotionally exhausting and physically challenging, but you leave set everyday knowing that you put your all into it and you’ve left everything you have in those dailies.”
And it sounds like McNamara has plenty of reasons to feel exhausted, considering everything Clary & Co. endure in the final hour of Season 2.
“We shut down the biggest street in Toronto for a full day of shooting,” she says. “We had drones on set, we brought in cabs and buses and hot dog carts to create this environment of New York City, to build to this Avengers-style fight scene that’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen on the show.”
And then there’s that big ol’ death that the promos have been warning us about. McNamara’s lips are sealed, but at least she has a few suggestions for how fans can prepare themselves:
“I would definitely have a box of tissues ready, as well as a comfort food of your choice — ice cream, chocolate, whatever’s going to make you feel better,” she says. “Honestly, I cried when I read the script. Then when we got to the moment on set, and I was acting with someone I’d been working with for years and we’d built this relationship, working towards this moment — things came out that weren’t on the page. It’s one of the first times we see Clary break, emotionally and physically, which is really exciting.”
Fortunately, it sounds like fans — at least those of the “Clace” variety — will be getting a few treats amid the finale’s guaranteed chaos.
“Jace and Clary are finally on the same page for the first time in a long time,” McNamara notes. “Up until this point in the series, one of them has been avoiding or shutting down their feelings, but now they’re both in a place where they’re ready to explore this connection and put all of their emotions into this other person. They’re more powerful [together] than anything this world has ever seen — which will become necessary as they go and fight Valentine.”
Your hopes for Monday’s season finale? Drop ’em all in a comment below.
