Nikolaj Coster-Waldau pranked Jennifer Garner before their emotional Last Thing He Told Me finale scene
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Warning: This article contains spoilers from the finale of The Last Thing He Told Me.
They say acting is reacting, but there was one day on the set of Apple TV+'s The Last Thing He Told Me when star Jennifer Garner took that creed to a whole new level.
She was minding her own business in between takes of a scene between her character, Hannah, and Agent Grady Bradford (Augusto Aguilera). Unbeknownst to her, costar Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who hadn't been around set lately due to travel, was back, and had been in hair and makeup testing the disguise his character, Owen, wears in the heartbreaking finale moment between him and Hannah.
This moment, which is much debated among fans of Laura Dave's book (and now the series), sees Owen show up several years after his disappearance and final contact with Hannah and his daughter Bailey, to ever-so-briefly whisper in Hannah's ear that he still loves her, before slipping out of their lives once again.
So, donning the beard, hat, and overall demeanor of this new version of Owen, Coster-Waldau thought it would be fun to test the look with Garner — without her knowledge — and sat down beside her while she chatted with series co-creator Josh Singer.
"I was talking to [Singer], and it seemed like a background player came and sat next to me," Garner recalls to EW. "And Josh kind of started smiling. And this person was just getting more and more comfortable next to me and I thought, 'I don't know you.'"
Jessica Brooks/Apple TV+ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Jennifer Garner as Owen and Hannah in 'The Last Thing He Told Me'
Garner turned to look, and once her eyes focused and she realized it was Coster-Waldau, she says, "I had Hannah's reaction. I instantly was just... I was so shocked. He was in a beard. They were testing his look for the last scene. And he just completely, completely caught me off guard. And, you know, I cried, and I yelled at them. And then we went on."
Coster-Waldau enjoyed it a bit more. The Danish actor tells EW the little prank "was a lot of fun," but it also gave him even more appreciation for his costar. "It was an emotional reaction she had. And it was beautiful, because she was very much in character. She was so invested in this relationship," he says.
Of course, when it came time to actually film the shocker between Hannah and Owen, Garner's reaction was a little more subtle — no crying, no yelling. But the actress believes that was all going through Hannah's mind. "It's impossible to think of being put in that position by someone and not being angry with them," she explains. "And so for him to show up at the end, and to, in public, ask Hannah to keep it together, and not run after him, and not fall into his arms, and not punch him in the face, and not demand to just — how many questions does she have to have? And she, in order to keep herself and Bailey and Owen safe, she has to just move on immediately. She can't let it cross her face, you know?"
"But at the same time," she continues, "I think it must have been just like an oasis in the middle of the desert, just to know he's alive. Just to know that he loves her."
Coster-Waldau agrees, crediting series co-creators Dave and Singer with making sure the audience believes the love between Owen and Hannah, and Owen and Bailey (Angourie Rice). "What I like about the ending, is that even when he comes back there's an emotional payoff that you actually feel like, 'Hey, we weren't cheated. It wasn't a lie.' I think that's really it."
Saeed Adyani/Apple TV+ Jennifer Garner as Hannah in 'The Last Thing He Told Me'
But does he think it was selfish or wrong of Owen to do that, years later? "I get what you're saying. Finally, she's moved on, she has closure and then he reappears. What a selfish thing to do. And I get that," he admits. "But we are also human beings, and he's clearly a flawed guy. And he can't move on because his job is to protect these people. And yes, he could just do that from a distance, but he decides to reappear. Maybe he still hopes that he can persuade Hannah to go to New Zealand and become a wine farmer. I don't know, maybe. But I kind of like it. I like that he doesn't give up. And I like the idea that we're kind of saying that that love between them is the real deal."
It's not canon, but Garner says she believes Hannah and Bailey get little drop-ins from Owen — just a quick moment where "he just lets them know 'I'm out here; I'm okay; I love you'" — every five to seven years. But, she adds, "I believe she moves on eventually. I think she has to get into a place of radical acceptance. And for me, Hannah is like, 'Okay, you've got to do this, but I'm going to move on with my life.'"
For his part, Coster-Waldau thinks Owen is in fact working on a wine farm somewhere and keeping tabs on his wife and daughter from afar, with dreams of someday finding a way to reunite. As for whether or not this dream will ever come true, he says, "Who knows? You'll have to ask Laura to write the sequel. Then we'll find out."
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