Angie Harmon Reveals What to Expect in Final Season of Rizzoli & Isles

Rizzoli & Isles Final Season Image Credit: Doug Hyun

When Season 7 of TNT’s buddy dramedy Rizzoli & Isles premieres on June 6, it will mark the beginning of the end for the fan favorite, as this season will be its last. We chatted with star Angie Harmon about her memorable moments, what she’s taking from the set and what she’s really taking away from her time as Detective Jane Rizzoli.

How will this season be different from the other ones?
Angie Harmon: Well, obviously, there’s a conclusion. I think that’s going to be a fun thing for everyone to see and just sort of bring a little closure to each character, which I think is necessary. Personally, as a viewer, I want to know what’s going to happen to the characters after it’s over and done with, because you’ve lived with the characters for a long time. I think that everyone’s going to be pretty happy about all of our futures.

Do you get any input into where Jane’s character ends up?
I did, and I was very grateful for that. I think I’ve stayed pretty spot-on with who Jane is and what her character is. I received a really wonderful compliment from [author of the Rizzoli & Isles book series] Tess Gerritsen, saying [that] other than the way that I look, Jane was exactly as she had written her. And when she writes the books now, she hears my voice. That was a huge honor for me.

What are you going to miss about Jane?
Oh God, everything! I’m going to miss her sense of humor. It’s a fun time to be able to play a character like Jane, because Jane gets to say sometimes bitchy, sometimes snarky, sometimes funny, sometimes biting things, and it’s understood and funny and people get it, as opposed to being out in the real world and not knowing if anyone’s going to get your humor or understand what you mean or understand the nuance.

Can you tell us about some of the fun you’ve had behind the scenes of Rizzoli & Isles?
There’s always a time when we’re all exhausted and the giggles set in and anything is hilarious. We laugh about it all the time that Jane’s half-man, half-superwoman. It turns real inappropriate, real quick. I know I’m really doing well when my cameramen and my focus guys and everybody, they just have their heads down and you can’t see anything but their bodies shaking.

angie-harmon-jane-rizzoli
Angie loves Jane … but not her fashion sense. TM & © Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.

Is there anything that you’re looking forward to about the end of the series?
I don’t have the manicure that I want, and I haven’t in seven years. I don’t necessarily have the haircut that I want, and I haven’t in seven years … the only thing I’ve worn for seven years is a sensible pantsuit. I took a picture of Jane’s wardrobe the other day, and it was just 90 T-shirts — in a rainbow array. [Laughs]

What episode stands out as a favorite?
The pilot is definitely my favorite, [or] one of my favorites. Everything was so new and everything was so wonderful. Another favorite episode of mine, I think, is when Jane sort of ran around the city chasing Barry. That was a pretty important episode for us, [and] for me personally.

Are there any episodes this season that you’re especially excited about?
We’re coming up with a 100th episode, which I’m actually getting ready to direct. Jane has to go undercover in a women’s prison, which is something that we’ve never done before. I’ve got a tattoo going up my neck and down my arm and the whole nine yards, so I’m excited about that. I’m excited to be in the thick of it, but also to be watching it from the other side of the camera and directing.

Is there anything that you’ve mentally earmarked to take from the set?
There are a couple things in Maura’s house, in her kitchen, that I think I’m going to have to probably trip Sasha [Alexander] for and run in and get them real quick. I don’t know. Hopefully she’ll give up easily. I’ll probably take Jane’s belt. I’m definitely going to take my badge, because Jane’s badge number is the birthday of one of my best friends.

How are you different at the end of the series from who you were at the beginning?
When I started this show, I was in a very different place in all things. Very naive. I was a child essentially, in a lot of ways, and I’m not anymore. To have these people sort of go through that process of growing up with me and allow me to do it … I mean, my friends here, they tell me they’re super proud of the person that I’ve become and they’ve watched what I’ve gone through.

I’ve just learned to handle — let’s see, how would Jane put it? — I’ve learned to handle the bull@#$% of life a lot better.

You just deferred to Jane to answer a question. Are you taking a bit of Jane with you from the show?
Absolutely. Absolutely. I think the hardest thing for me when shows end is, it’s like all of those characters die, because you don’t ever get to see them again. You don’t ever get to play them again. You don’t get to play with the other characters and play with the other people. They’re just gone. That’s very difficult for me. I’ve lived this person for seven years. I haven’t acted; I’ve lived her. Jane has protected me in a lot of times when I really needed it. Jane has been a witty sense of humor in many times when I didn’t have one. Hopefully, in this process of becoming an adult in my 40s, I can honestly say that I truly hope that Jane Rizzoli had a lot of influence on who I am now and who I’ve become.

A lot of our readers are huge Rizzoli & Isles fans. Is there a message you’d like to share with them?
There’s such deep, heartfelt gratefulness for their support and their love, especially the ones that have stood up for us and who have fought for us and who have fought back the mean girls, so to speak.

Rizzoli & Isles > TNT > Mondays beginning June 6 at 9pm ET/8pm CT

13 Comments

  1. Just saw the pictures from the 100 ep celebration. This one could not even be bothered to stand by her co-star who was in the middle of the stage. So sick of Angie Harmon, she and Nash have really just destroyed the show. So glad it is zoo gone, hope they disappear as well.

  2. Please is there a way to fight to keep this program????? We love everyone in the show and the stories are great. Please find someone to keep it going!!!!

  3. Looks like this season is going to be just as disappointing as the last 2, it is a shame, it was a good show seasons 1-4, but, it is time for it to go, it needed to be cancelled. Hope Sasha Alexander moves on to something other that I can watch her regularly in. i really hope she stays in front of the camera rather than directing or something like that. Although, I had never heard of her before watching this show, she has become a favorite of mine.

  4. The show was destroyed when Jan Nash took over, she had no clue and took out what was the most important ingredient, the friendship/the closeness, look at the ratings, season 5 started to slide into the 4’s and lower in winter, all of season 6 was 20-25% lower ratings than season 5, and it continues. She is a complete idiot, and if Angie Harmon wanted the friendship/relationship diminished and thought the cop aspect of it was more important as well, she is an idiot too.

    • After seeing Harmon’s tweet’s after the episode this past Monday and all of her ridiculous gushing about her scenes with the secondary characters and, of course, loving herself and how she looked cool in shades, I think we can accept the fact that she is a complete IDIOT. Incidentally, all of the scenes she loved and spent her time tweeting about were the filler scenes that most could care less about, and not 1 tweet about any scene with the character Maura. No wonder Sasha wants to move on to, hopefully, better things, she is now working with lunatics,, Nash and Harmon heading the list.

      • She is a complete idiot, the show would be nothing with out both she and Sasha, but, she just can’t stand it, thinks it is all about her. I hope she never gets work on another show again, she can then go home and retire and pretend like it was her intension all along.

    • Angie Harmon is making a lot more money then you are playing an “idiot”. Jealously is showing!

      • You mention jealousy because a poster stated Angie is an idiot regarding the show, how does that even compute. Yes she is making a nice paycheck I imagine, but, not any longer, she is very soon losing it, because the show lost it’s appeal. The closeness was removed, the character of Maura made lesser, and the criminal aspect of the show heightened, it dropped 20-25% in ratings from 5th season to 6th and lost key advertising dollars, so TNT cancelled because it needs better demos. So, I agree that if Angie had a part she is pretty stupid and ended her paycheck.

  5. I also wonder why it ended. I have watched since the beginning & thought everything was going well. I enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you for my weekly adventures.

  6. I hate that she had any type of say, there is something going on between the stars the last few years or the lead writer is just THAT bad, not sure which, but, in watching the show I still see the actress playing Maura still trying to show the friendship as close, but I don’t see this actress trying at all, in fact, she just always looks disinterested. I really hate what they did to this show in season 5, season 6 was just terrible, and with the exception of just this last episode with the postal employee have been pretty bad, pretty boring and not at all well written. Whoever the writer was in the episode on 6/20.I wish she was the main writer and had written a lot more episodes the last few years, she actually *got* the show.

  7. This show has been awful since Jan Nash came aboard, she grew Angie’s part too much and diminished Sasha’s, and it was the demise of the show, now I don’t even really care for Angie Harmon or her character very much. It is funny, I am not interested at all in seeing what is next for Angie, but, I am really hoping I get to see Sasha in something other.

  8. I am puzzled as I still love the show and really don’t understand why it has to end.

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