Mare of Easttown ending almost scrapped: Kate Winslet reveals what almost happened instead

*Warning: This article contains spoilers from the Mare of Easttown finale, obviously.

The chilling ending to Mare of Easttown which saw Mare Sheehan take herself to the attic where her son took his own life almost didn’t happen, according to Kate Winslet.

The HBO thriller ended this week with the heartbreaking twist confirming who killed Erin McMenamin.

Once the murder mystery had been wrapped up, Mare ascended to the loft overwhelmed with grief and tragedy.

‘We said, “Does it feel like we’re doing two endings? Do we really need Mare going in the attic?”‘ Kate – who starred as Mare and executive produced the series – revealed in a live Instagram Q&A.

At one point, the Titanic star, creator Brad Ingelsby, and director Craig Zobel thought it could be more powerful to close with Mare and her best friend Lori in conversation, after it was confirmed the latter’s teenage son killed Erin.

‘There is a universally shared complicated set of emotions that come hand-in-hand with what it feels like to be someone who’s left behind, grieving that loss, and you can’t start confronting grief until the time is right,’ she said.

‘That time might come right away or it could come two years later. At that moment — Mare going up into the attic — all I could hope was that people would come with her, in a way.

‘That is for me what that moment is, and I think it is the beginning of her facing what she hasn’t been able to face.’

Mare of Easttown has already become HBO Max’s most watched TV episode since the streaming giant launched in 2020.

Naturally then, there’s hunger for Mare of Easttown season 2 – but will it happen? Kate has shared her thoughts and if her comments are anything to go by we can be hopeful.

Mare of Easttown is available to stream on NOW in the UK and HBO Max in the US.

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