Today, at Television Critics Association summer press tour, a sizable portion of the cast and crew of HBO’s Sharp Objects took to the stage to talk about their addictive, thoughtful series. The series, which stars Amy Adams, Patricia Clarkson, Chris Messina, and others, is an adaptation of the Gillian Flynn novel of the same name, and it seems likely to end when the novel does. That was confirmed today by showrunner Marti Noxon: “We’re not talking about a season two. This is it. Bask in it while you can.”
That might not normally be newsworthy, but we’re now in a world where Big Little Lies, also an adaptation of a novel, can get an invented second season (with Meryl Streep!). And that’s nothing on The Handmaid’s Tale, which showrunner Bruce Miller has planned through ten (10!) seasons. So Noxon and company’s commitment to letting sleeping dogs lie bucks a bit of a trend.
While it may seem like bad news to not get more of series that’s been widely lauded as one of the summer’s best, the decision to hold Sharp Objects to one season seems likely to be best for both the series, which won’t overstay its welcome or start spinning its wheels, and for its cast. During the panel, the cast spoke openly about the difficulty of filming the dark, upsetting series. Adams told the audience that her character Camille, an alcoholic journalist with a traumatic past, followed her home from work:
“I had really bad insomnia [during filming] and would wake up with anxiety. I had to realize that I didn’t own it, it belonged to Camille. I had to decide what I had to let go of and what I could use the next day.”
Sharp Objects airs Sunday nights on HBO, and will end — for good — on August 26th.
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