The actress also weighs in on whether kids are in her character’s future.
Season 4 of Sweet Magnolias ended on a sweet note. The new season, which premiered on Feb. 6, closed with Helen Decatur and Erik Whitley sharing the news of their engagement with their friends on Christmas.
Considering the lack of major cliffhangers, along with happy endings for characters and Maddie Townsend seemingly deciding to accept a job in New York, one might wonder, is this the end of Sweet Magnolias?
Courtesy of Netflix
“I think everybody’s gonna think that,” actress Heather Headley told Parade in an exclusive interview. “They’re gonna be like, ‘Well, is this it or not?’… and I think sometimes that’s the cliffhanger in itself. Is this it, or is there going to be another one?”
Headley herself thinks “there is still something” there. She said, “I think people are gonna wonder what the future holds… like what the future holds for Maddie. What happens with Dana Sue and definitely what is gonna go on with Helen, her love life and everything like that.”
Although Season 4 felt like it “could be” the end, “if it needed to be,” it never felt that way to Headley when they were filming. “Because I still felt like there were so many questions that needed to be answered,” she explained. “So when we got to the end of it, it felt final, but still in my heart, I was like, ‘No, it’s not done.'”
Headley recalled a lot of people saying on set, “I don’t think this is it. I think we might have to do this again.” So, she “wouldn’t doubt if” they get called back to start filming again.
Courtesy of Netflix
Besides, Headley wants to see her character, Helen, walk down the aisle. The actress admitted that she’s already told them that it “better be the wedding of all weddings for Serenity.”
“I want a train like at the back of the church when I’m at the front of the church. We should have a long train. This is what we’re going to do. It’s the wedding of all weddings,” she said.
“So I think that when she does get married, it’s going to be, and it should be, like the wedding of Serenity,” Headley added, noting that “everybody’s kind of been waiting for” Helen and Erik to get together. “It’s been years in the making. And so I think it would be a beautiful celebration… and because it’s Helen, and she’s the one who likes the clothes and all that kind of stuff, it should be quite the wedding.”
While she is already imagining Helen’s wedding, Headley—whose character’s arc has included a miscarriage and infertility—doesn’t know if her character should become a mom. “I think there are many women in this world who don’t necessarily get the honor of that gift of having children, you know, naturally to themselves,” she said. “However, they are amazing aunts and godmothers and friends and mentors to kids and adoptive moms to kids everywhere. And so I think that, to me, has always been her storyline, maybe that she has embraced these other children, and how she does that. So I think there are a lot of things to explore for her and with her.”
Whether this is the final chapter or not, the sweet outweighs the bitter for Headley. She said, “Here is this little show, which is about three women and their lives and their lives in this little town, and not anything crazy is happening to them, just normal stuff that happens to everyday people. You know, divorce and being single and your husband cheating on you and not having kids or having kids, and people just came to it and embraced it and loved it, and so that’s the sweet part of it.”
“But I am so proud of the show for what it’s done in that way,” Headley continued. “I’ve had so many women reach out to me and say, ‘I now have margarita nights with my girlfriends, we meet for dinners once every month and just talk, or we call each other’ and stuff like that. I think it would be more sweet than bitter that I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of it.”
Season 4 of Sweet Magnolias is now streaming on Netflix
