SPOILERS for The Good Wife
On Sunday, The Good Wife said goodbye to one of their fan-favorite characters, Kalinda, played by British actress Archie Panjabi. Archie already has another deal with another TV network, and I’m not worried about her as an actress. But it’s worth discussing several different parts of Kalinda’s exit from The Good Wife.
Let’s start at the beginning – the first several seasons, TGW was a critically acclaimed show, consistently nominated for many of the big awards. Archie even won an Emmy for playing Kalinda, because in those first few seasons, Kalinda was a revelation. An Indian woman playing a bisexual sexpot and mysterious badass? Holy hell, it was amazing. But at some point, the character sort of lost focus. The writers tried to introduce more of Kalinda’s background, to mixed results. Kalinda’s pansexuality started to grate on my nerves a little bit too, because in TGW universe, every single person, male or female, wanted to go to bed with Kalinda. It felt like the writers didn’t really know what to do with this incredible character they had created, so they just had her seduce every person she encountered.
Part of the problem, as it turns out, was that there seemed to be an effort to keep Kalinda away from Alicia, played by Julianna Marguilies. At first, the separation between these two friends made sense: Alicia discovered that Kalinda had slept with Alicia’s husband Peter Florrick years beforehand. But around the same time, some people began muttering… perhaps Julianna and Archie didn’t get along in real life? At first, I thought this theory was just an effort to pit two professional actresses against each other. But the rumor stuck around, especially when the writers still couldn’t come up with any interesting storylines for Kalinda, and Archie was largely pushed to the side. Several seasons passed and you’d be hard-pressed to find more than one or two scenes with both women per season. Maybe there was something to the theory after all.
So, in the lead up to Kalinda’s departure, many TGW fans were waiting to see if Alicia and Kalinda would end up in the same scene together, and if those characters would get a chance to say goodbye to each other. Well, it happened. Sort of. Except that now the fans think the “goodbye” scene was CGI, split screen and awkward as hell.
My take? I think Julianna and Archie were in the same scene at the same time. I just think it was awkward as hell because the two actresses don’t like each other at this point. E! News had a good analysis here, but E! thinks that it was probably done with split screens and be-wigged body doubles.
But none of this speculation really answers the question of WHY? Why did Archie and Julianna have a falling out? The generally accepted theory is that Julianna, as star and producer, pulled rank and didn’t want another actress getting more press or better storylines than her. Some even think Julianna is a bit of a “princess.” I don’t know what to tell you.
Some photos of Archie at the BAFTAs on Sunday:
Photos courtesy of WENN.
And here I was starting to like Julianna, I guess I confused the actress with the character, provided that the rumors are true.
It shows how professional the TGW team is that we don’t know the drama that goes on there.
People don’t get along all the time. Why is it that when women do get along someone is a diva. If Julianne was a man this would never happen. Do you ever see someone try to upstage Bradley Cooper , no? I am sure people know to make sure that never happens.
Sorry but if they are refusing to film scenes together and whining about who gets more press then they are divas. This isn’t a gender issue.
When Christian bale acted like a tool he was called out on it as well as lots of other men in Hollywood. Including Chris Noth.
Seriously these two haven’t shared a scene in years, one character suffered and the show as a whole suffered. To act like this is some unfair gender issue is ridiculous. If this is true then it’s unprofessional and the cause of it deserves to be called out.
Amy upstaged the hell out of Bradley Cooper in Wet Hot American Summer. Best movie ever…..
I LOVED Kalinda and thus, by extension, Archie Panjabi as well. I wanted to marry Kalinda!!! This saddened me to hear and I am on team Panjabi here. From the two actresses remarks about the show and their characters I think that there is something to this story. I know that it is silly to pick sides but I just think that Archie Panjabi is absolutely lovely and talented and that Ms. Margolies is a tad (extremely) overrated as an actress.
Totally agree for me she is very bland, I never see any passion in her, I don’t dislike her but I have never understood the love for her. Even in ER I thought she was too flat and sparkless.
Kalinda is the Jamie Fraser of TGW. Everyone male or female wants to bed her,
It is tough to be awesome,
LOL, she is isn’t she? I hadn’t thought of that, but she is totally the Jamie Fraser of TGW, or rather he is the Kalinda of Outlander.
“The Kalinda of Outlander” +10000000
How I will always think of Jamie Fraser from now on, haha.
I’ve read elsewhere that they haven’t been in a scene together since 2012. I don’t know about that last scene, but it really was pretty awkward.
Whatever the cause of all this, it has really caused the show to suffer. All of the supporting characters have been pushed to the side lines for more Alicia stuff, and in doing so they have ruined a once great show.
+1. Watching that scene, it seemed like they didn’t like each other. Maybe it’s because the characters had that history, but it was very tense.
They are professionals and will do what is best for the show and scene, not behave like children. I don’t believe it.
Good grief. No one cares if you like each other in real life or not. It’s called being s professional. Do you think I like everyone in my office? Hollywood is childish!
Co-sign!
Based on the angles and the direction Kalinda is looking, they did not shoot the scene together.
This makes sense to me because after Alicia asks Kalinda if this will be the last time they see each other and Kalinda responds yes….and then no hug at the very least!? Awkward is putting it mildly!
I couldn’t put my finger on it but that’s it, zero physical interaction. What’s the excuse, scheduling conflicts?
It’s so strange because there are tons of actors who work/worked together and hated each other while doing far more intimate or emotional scenes. WTF?
Seems to be a theme this year with the solo death/quickie funeral of Patrick Dempsey.
Seriously! I have to work with people I personally dislike all the time. But I am civil, polite and I do it anyway — with no bewigged body doubles, either, no less.
It just seems weird, like, suck it up? There have been quite a few actors who hated each other in RL but had to pretend to be part of a romantic couple or family or best friends pair together, and somehow they made it happen. So, this is mystifying.
Yeah, until I quit my job I had to work with some dislikable, unpleasant people on a regular basis (I also worked with a lot of people I liked very much).
You suck it up and you deal, and if you really need to after another miserable encounter you can go outside for a walk or call up your significant other to let off steam or something. I had to ‘go for a quick Starbucks run’ a couple of times after a meeting just to get some fresh air and breathe. It’s called being a professional.
Some thoughts: I saw a play recently where one of the main characters was an aging movie star and she shouted at her new director, “I want a untalented actress playing the ingenue! She will NOT be showing me up! You find me someone so mediocre that next to them I look amazing.”
Guess Julianna Margolis forgot to tell her director that when they were casting the part. 😉
The over the shoulder shots are definitely filmed with stand ins. Which isnt unusual except if an old colleague is leaving the show in which case you do her a solid and not send a bewigged stand in to play off of. Also is there reason, plotwise, for the zero physical contact? I would think a hug, hand shake, pat on the back or even just stroking a hand would be in order for a goodbye. Dunno.
Completely agree, they also try and trick us into thinking there’s physical contact by having them clink glasses but while the sound occurs during the split screen shot the actual physical part is done by the stand in(over shoulder shot)
Yes! I noticed that.
Exactly- when a longtime cast member leaves a show, it’s customary for the other actors to show up for them. Robert Morse, who played Bert Cooper on “Mad Men,” said that during his big goodbye scene (the one where he danced and sang), Jon Hamm stood there for every take- he certainly didn’t need to do that since they could have used a body double to film the back of him, but Morse remarked on what a lovely thing it was for Hamm to do.
Whatever is going on between Margulies and Panjabi (and it’s clear that something is definitely wrong there, since it didn’t serve the story at all to have the two most popular characters never share a single scene together), I think the blame is rightly falling on Margulies because she is the star and a producer. If Panjabi refused to film with Margulies, she would have been in breach of her contract and likely fired years ago. If Margulies refuses to film with Panjabi, well, what are they going to do to her? She’s a producer and the star, so it’s not like she’ll be fired or given worse story lines (like Heigl and the deer).
Aww that’s so sweet. I heart Mad Men. As for this scene, there definitely seems to be something off about it. I used to loove this show back in its heyday, and I can’t believe I never heard this gossip! Sad if true – I hate to see females not supporting each other/succumbing to stereotype. And I agree with others, even if it is true, be professional! Making the network shell out God knows how much to make CGI friendship magic? Ridiculous. Deal with it and do your job!
JM is definitely the alpha dog in this situation. If there was any kind of fight, AP would be the one on the outs.
There is something strange about that scene, I’m just not sure what!
I think there’s enough smoke here for there to be fire. While it’s not uncommon to separate two popular characters on a show to share the workload, especially when the actors get successful enough to demand a lighter shooting schedule..the separation is for an episode or two or usually just a chunk of the episode and together for the climax. No scenes for years??? That’s a step beyond
When I saw it I definitely thought it was CGI. The over the shoulder shots were obviously fake and there were times when the women were not looking where they should have been.
This feud had an impact on the show over the last couple of years.
Oh, and the producers’ explanation that Alicia and Kalinda were estranged on the show because Kalinda had had a brief fling with Peter is not true. The actresses shared scenes after that revelation. The producers insult the viewers because we remember the sequence of the story had how suddenly the actresses were never sharing a scene and always talking on the phone–even when Will Gardner was killed!
I haven’t watched The Good Wife since Season 3 but continued to read about the show’s defining moments such as Will Gardner’s death and now Kalinda’s departure. I would think that if The Good Wife producers and Margulies really wanted to use Kalinda to the fullest before her departure, they would have used the tragedy of Will’s murder to reunite these two former friends. What a waste of what was once amazing chemistry and friendship between two female leads. I just watched the video above and I think that regardless of whether these two women were in the same room or if it is just CGI effects, the interaction between Panjabi and Margulies was extremely awkward. Not just the interaction itself but also the camera angles. It does look like the two might have filmed this scene without ever having been in the same room together.
@kibbles. When I was watching that scene it made me miss the early seasons when they’d be at the bar hanging out. Their friendship was a highlight of the early show. I agree. what a waste.
Julianna and Archie have two very different acting preferences. Both have stated their on record. When Julianna agreed to work on the Good Wife, it was with the condition that she would be able to make it home to her children before dinner every night. Her acting method was to nail each seen with as few takes as possible, to capture the scenes most organ icky. Archie method is to film the scenes over and over again, till she believes it’s perfection. Neither way is better or worse, and both are common among actors.
After missing too many of her kids activities, there was a blow up between Julianna and Archie. Things were said between each other that couldn’t be taken back.
Julianna had it in her contract that she would make it home to her children, except under extreme circumstances. That was not possible when her scenes with Archie took so long and pushed her scenes with other actors back.
Both are great actors and got along with the other cast members. But between the blowup and acting differences, it was too much.
Thank you, this makes a lot of sense.
I just never bought that the situation was plot driven.
Love to know where you got that info from. I definitely know Julianne wanted to work less hours, as I’ve seen interviews of her complaining that she was forced to be in scenes with the other lawyers were arguing, and she was just in the background. She wouldn’t have a line all day and it would be about 14 hours or something. I know she had it changed so she wasn’t there for no reason. But I find it hard to believe that Archie wants to repeat scenes over and over, especially coming from a British background where there’s no money to do that, I would have thought she’d be used to doing things quickly. Seems especially weird with Julianna as producer – who can just tell Archie it’s not possible for them to do that many takes…
I think they backed off Archie after those awful episodes with her and her ‘husband’, the guy was British, perhaps recommended by Archie to play the role? TGW got a lot of backlash for those scenes, and it put off a lot of people – maybe Archie got partially blamed, and her scenes got cut down. Or perhaps Julianna as producer thought Archie had been detrimental to the show?
But do the actresses – Archie in this case – get a say in how many shots they’ll be doing? I mean, the director could have said “no more takes, we’ve got it”, even though A. would prefer more.
That’s what I’m wondering, isn’t it usually the director that sets that schedule? If the show has strict requirements, I can’t see why a director would let the supporting actress dictate the pace of the filming.
I can fully understand Julianne wanting to limit her hours and have family time, but given that they’ve reduced all the supporting characters to next to nothing, wouldn’t she be working more than ever the past few seasons?
This explains how actors can’t get along sometimes, I forgot about possible clashing of acting methods. Not to mention time is money in Hollywood so actors can also clash with directors.
This makes sense, but it is beyond insane not to do one last scene together.
This doesn’t sound right- Archie has worked on indies, UK tv, and lots of other, very diverse projects where there is no room for diva behavior. Angelina Jolie was breastfeeding Shiloh during A Mighty Heart & Brad was producing- Angelina especially is well known for creating a VERY family friendly set. Archie & Angelina are still friends to this day and Archie gave Angelina a shout out when she won her Emmy for TGW. I’m glad to know that Archie has work lined up- sad if it’s true about the feud with Julianna.
Not buying this at all. How is it that scenes with other actors on the show don’t cut into family time, but only Archie’s did. Knowing tht she liked retakes, what precluded everyone from doing those scenes earlier? Hogwash.
First, JM only has one son. So no “children” to run home to. I don’t buy this story for a second.
What I do buy is that JM had it in her contract to work “normal” hours and was probably home most nights for her son, but that occasionally there were late nights. As one does during the filming of a TV series. I doubt highly that AP had anything to do with her late nights. This is the flimsiest of reasons for her to ice AP out because she could have just demanded all her scenes were done first, even out of order.
Most likely JM did not like a sexy, much-younger, award-winning actress in her space. Diva 101. And she had producer status, so her wishes were honored, to the detriment of the show and AP’s career.
I try very hard to steer away from a ‘girls r jealous’ explanation (because, hell, I can feel a lot more negative emotions towards another woman than jealousy. I’m well-rounded that way), but I agree with your post, Caroline. This bums me out because I floved JM on ER and that she grew up a few towns away from me and that she was living with Ron Eldard (I adore the movie “True Love”). But then she made a few comments about turning down the ER money that to my mind sounded kind of smug. And then she made some passive aggressive comments about how actors who she dated kind of sucked.
I think she’s very beautiful and a decent (if overrated) actress, but she’s struck me as a cold fish the past few years. Was there ever any word that Josh Charles was unhappy with the environment at TGW?
Finally, Christine Baranski is everything so JM should probably have a seat.
I agree that Archie needing to do scenes lots of times seems strange given her British background. Usually that’s more of an American method acting thing to do.
But I remember Julianne going on and on about how many pages of dialogue the show has in several interviews.
I think that Archie wanted to move on, I would think that she got bored of her storyline. I also think, the writers were trying to create two separate story lines for the show, because both women were strong actors and could carry the show. The writers were trying to keep ratings up.
I call BS. And if it turns out to be true, friendly reminder that it’s possible for two people not to get along without either of them acting like a diva. Friendships can run its course, and some people just don’t click together. It happens.
There was once a time when TGW was my favorite show – and I have many from HBO to FX to AMC…so it had heavy competition in my lineup. Since the departure of Will, and even before that I felt like the show had fallen off a lot…I couldn’t quite put my finger on it…but I feel like the writing was ALL OVER THE PLACE. And seriously…how many times can Alicia be this Phoenix? I’m over it. I had heard rumblings of a feud between these two a couple of years ago, although could find no further information or proof…but I guess the proof is right there in the show. These two stopped working together. Period. Which just doesn’t work for the show. The only woman worth watching in this show is Diane (Christine Baranski) – who I basically want to be. This whole scene AND episode was annoying . I don’t even want to get started on the Finn nonsense….
I agree that the writing started to fall off several seasons ago. The first victim was Cary, who was easily the most inconsistently written character on the show. Then Kalinda was so obviously pushed to the side and it just got ridiculous.
Agreed Kaiser…Cary was the most intriguing for a while. It’s as if they never truly knew what to do with him. It’s very odd. Even without Will, this show could have really stayed relevant and entertaining. Now it’s just confusing and they’ve gone through so many changes that it’s unbelievable at this point. And someone please tell me where the ef Finn works? What exactly is the point of his character? What a waste of Matthew Goode…I rather love him.
I still like the show but it definitely jumped the shark a little before Will left.
One thing I can’t understand is why she and Peter are still together. I almost feel like if the show was called something other than “The Good Wife” she would have moved on a while ago.
Also, it’s a little annoying how they keep using current events this season and turning them into fictional events. It seems a little lazy when it happens episode after episode.
I agree with you that they really didn’t know what to do with Kalinda after a while. Certainly, the character was too superhero awesome, right down to the leather outfits, to be varied or multifaceted. Personally, I didn’t find her credible as an investigator in those get ups; that she managed to work full time for a law firm and a drug dealer in the last season & no one ever asked any questions; that everyone was attracted to her (especially the Cary situation, she looked more like his babysitter); and her flat delivery was a yawn. I had so little interest that I never even noticed she and Alicia hadn’t been in scenes together for two years.
I always thought they were setting the two characters up for a romance. Maybe Julianna the Producer nixed it and Archie thought she was a coward after all the lesbian scenes she’d been shooting. Didn’t Kalinda almost say I love you at the end of the bar scene? That might have been a nod to that.
I liked the Malcolm McDowell doppelgänger husband backstory/plotline. I had figured that would be the last season for Panjabi: Kalinda on trial for her husband’s murder. Maybe it was going to be, but since that would have required many Alicia/Kalinda scenes, Cary ended up with a trembling lip in jail instead for a multi-episode arc.
I felt that the husband storyline is the prime example of how awful the Kalinda writing got, especially in respect to her sexuality (which was the ONLY aspect of the Kalinda from S1 that lasted. She was just a cartoonish sexpot towards the end. She didn’t use creativity, manipulation, or ‘shady’ skills. She just met people who instantly wanted to have sex with her, and she went for it. Again and again. Until I mostly rolled my eyes through her scenes).
They had a great thing going, and had been building up to the husband storyline for seasons. And when he finally showed up, what happened? They said passive aggressive things to each other and $&@?ed. It was so pathetic that even the writers made it no secret that they killed it off early. It could have been awesome, but it just became silly, overplayed sexy time.
I would have liked to see something about her husband’s murder, as well. I think the whole thing was so embarrassing that the GW producers wouldn’t revisit it with a 10 foot pole.
I don’t know what went down between JM and AP, but the feud didn’t kill the Kalinda character. Lazy writers did. The laziest writing possible. So lazy that they should be shot. They turned an awesome character into a silly Mary Sue in about two seasons.
No…the writers were under instructions to come up with a storyline that separated the two actors (but kept the popular Kalinda character on the show) so they did not have to be together in the same scenes. Granted they did a poor job but they were not allowed to continue the Kalicia storyline which was so successful, especially for AP. JM was very unhappy that she was being overshadowed on her own show by AP and this lead to onset tension between the two that eventually led to JM threatening to quit the show. JM indicated to the Kings she wanted AP’s character marginalized. Looks like she got her wish.
I see your argument, but the character of Kalinda could have rocked just fine and never been in the same room as Alicia. She could have been the same mysterious and invaluable investigator for LG that she was, just not Alicia’s friend. Instead, she got relegated to some -pansexual femme fatale caricature, because the writers were too lazy to do a bit of effective tweaking (and they were probably lazy enough to think that what they were doing was…haha…liberal….hahaha).
The husband storyline did not have to be that awful–quite the opposite, with all the suspense that had built up to it, it could have been amazing. It could have lasted for seasons. Lazy writing is at fault for the juvenile stupidity that it became. Alicia never had to be any part of it…the husband just had to be the conniving monster that the momentum had promised, and not some whining pansy who’s greatest weapon seemed to be name-calling.
It’s not even as if Kalinda was the only character destroyed by lazy writing. As others have mentioned, Cary got boring before she did. Eli isn’t what he used to be (actually, he’s becoming as one dimensional as Kalinda), The judges don’t have personality any more, new characters are not interesting.
Does JM have that much bargaining power? What would happen to her if she left TGW? Hollywood is sexist and ageist…career options for a middle aged woman who leaves a show in a jealous tantrum must be limited. The show has done everything for her, and she would be no where without it. She doesn’t even have the acting chops to carry her momentum from the show with her if she left–she I feel that any threat of that nature she made would get called out, fast.
In a word, yes. JM is the title character. Without her there is not going to be a GW. If she quit, the show was dead and CBS would not have been happy with the Kings inability to manage their talent. This would have had a very negative effect on their ability to sell new shows to CBS and other networks in addition to the end of TGW. So while quiting the show would have had a negative impact on JM it would also have been bad for the Kings continued ability to work in the industry. Typically, this would have been handled by writing the Kalinda character out of the show but given the character’s popularity with the fans this was not a very attractive option for the Kings/CBS. The compromise was marginalizing Kalinda and keeping her out of scenes with JM. The Eli character this year was limited by the fact that the actor playing the character was appearing in “Cabaret” on Broadway. MC had the spotlight in the first half of the season, although the effectiveness of the plot line can be debated. So the bad writing for AP was deliberate whereas for the other characters it was, more than likely, not.
The reddit interview by MC a few days ago was also enlightening. When asked to comment about JM he comes up with lines like “hard worker” while gushing about the other actors like Baranski and Michael J. Fox. It is well known that MC and AP were good friends on the show.
I loved, loved, loved Kalinda when the show started (and Archie the actual person seems pretty cool too). But I started to lose interest in the show as a whole around the time the show started messing with Kalinda’s character. I’m surprised she stayed this long – I thought I remember rumors about her leaving well before now.
It seems like JM is behind the feud. Archie was not invited to their Paleyfest panel (said so in a Twitter response) and in the recent EW interview, when she was asked why she and JM hadn’t shared a scene in 3 years, she said “ask the producers”. Not, ask the “writers”, but the producers – worth noting that JM, along with being lead actress, is also a producer. She’s the one with all the power in this situation, not Archie. Any casual viewer has to admit that this goes beyond two actors not liking each other; they haven’t been in a scene together in 3 YEARS, not even when Will was killed.
Archie Panjabi is so likable in interviews, I want to know so bad why JM wouldn’t like her (or vice versa).
The Washington post had a really good article about this after the season finale. Panjabi indicated that the media should ask the producers why they were separated. And that final bar scene was clearly green screened. Neither of them ever crosses the median. Compare with old bar scenes when they are shot together.
This show has gone off the rails. Julianna doesn’t have what it takes to carry the show. Her acting is so one-dimensional. ALL the other actors on the show are much, much better. And the role she plays is BORING. I would rather watch all the other actors and their roles, rather than J.M.
Plus a million. I think that’s why other story lines get the kibosh. They shine a spotlight on her limitations.
Also agree. I was all for her in the beginning but maybe that’s because her story-line was sprinkled in with the others. I much prefer watching Diane, Cary, Kalinda…and even David Lee! Is it just me or have they also whittled Eli’s role down to something minimal as well?
Eli does nothing now! But I wouldn’t him to be in it just for the sake of it.
BTW, the funniest part of this season was when David Lee and the black lawyer were arguing about the leaked emails. So funny.
JM was also the third choice for the role and almost turned it down because she did not want to be “sloppy thirds”.
And check out Matt’s comments on JM….compare them to his comments on the other actors (Baranski)
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/35myuw/matt_czuchry_ama/
I believe the jealousy thing if only because I work people (men and women) who behave in ways that demonstrate that they are clearly jealous of other people. I see it in my personal life too (e.g. that so-called “friend” who always has to keep you below them, by forgetting important things, certain remarks, the way they treat you, etc.). It is an unfortunate human condition of people who are insecure. See it all the time. Archie’s in a better place for moving on. She’s a fantastic actress who deserves meatier roles than this show, which is losing steam anyway.
So, Moonlighting, The Much Tamer Sequel.
I remember hearing that Julianna pulled this same diva crap on ER. Now, I don’t have any proof, so it’s not fair to say that this apparent feud is her baby, but this certainly cries like a baby. It seems like someone is setting Archie up as the fall guy and in my experience, when one person comes out immediately with guns blazing over falling outs of this nature, one’s ears should take pause. Feh, I’ve never seen this show.
That scene is ridiculous. A major character is leaving and there is nothing, absolutely nothing between these two women – no emotion, no physical contact, no soul…. To me, this definitely looks like it was done with body doubles. How disappointing and how utterly unprofessional.
JM must be fuming when she knows the most interesting female characters – Kalinda, Diane – are ones she is not playing.