For All Mankind is one of the best sci-fi TV shows currently available to stream (you'll find it on Apple TV+), and it takes place in an alternate history where Russia beat America to the moon.
As you might expect, that changed everything, and in season 3 (set in the 1990s), we've seen man make their way to Mars. This very different take on the space race has proven to be nothing short of fascinating, and the character's who inhabit this world - who are aged up from season to season - are at the heart of this ambitious story.
Shantel VanSanten's Karen Baldwin is, or was, among them, and her story came to an end in the explosive season 3 finale. It was a moment that left fans reeling, though For All Mankind has never shied away making some hard decisions with its characters.
Talking to us about her role in American Murderer, Shantel revealed whether she was disappointed to say goodbye to Karen and shared her thoughts on where the show goes from here.
Check out this For All Mankind excerpt from our interview below and click here for the full conversation.
On another note, I actually just finished watching For All Mankind for the first time last week, and I loved it, but was so devastated to see Karen’s story end. Were you disappointed that her story ended there or was it the right time to end that arc?
I’m never disappointed in that show. Never. I knew when I signed on that we would all be passing the baton in the relay race. That show will keep living on. The fourth season is being filmed now and it’s such a beautiful idea to watch things evolve based on the foundation of characters we got to play, whether it be Tracy, Gordo, Karen, Molly…they’re worked into the fabric of that show and are what that show was constructed on and is about.
So, I don’t have fear…I know also what happens in scripts because I’m friends with people [Laughs] but I didn’t have fear that it wasn’t Karen’s time. We don’t get to choose. Sometimes we go at the height of our life. It could be that you’re on the precipice of everything in front of you, and it was your time. That’s where the story ends. I really, truly felt like I surrendered from day one to whatever story we wanted to tell and it was this beautiful three-season swansong of watching this housewife who then learned that you can’t just care give your whole life and still feel fulfilled.
It was her finding her own voice and her own feet and she did so much in her lifetime. 63 is far too young to pass away in my mind, but the impact that gets left behind and the legacy by going too early is a whole other version of an experience of a character or human. I will forever be changed and grateful because of that show. My soul lives in those scenes and through Karen for a lot of reasons, and I’m only sad because I miss my friends [Laughs] and we were a very close cast, but yeah, it was my time.
If everybody wanted me to go, I wasn’t doing my job [Laughs]. If everyone had been like, ‘Thank God she’s gone!’ We would not be sitting here talking.
American Murderer is now playing in theaters and is available on Demand and on Digital.