“Young Sheldon”'s Annie Potts Gets Emotional About Saying Goodbye to Costars She Watched Grow Up (Exclusive)

The actress exclusivesly tells PEOPLE abouyt her "love" for 'Young Sheldon' stars Iain Armitage and Raegan Revord

With Young Sheldon in its final season, Annie Potts is tearfully reflecting on her costars.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the actress, 71, welled up with emotion discussing the last seven years working with Iain Armitage and Raegan Revord on the popular CBS show, in which Armitage, 15, plays a younger version of Jim Parsons’ character Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory, while Revord, 16, portrays Sheldon’s twin sister Missy.

“I'm going to cry right now,” admits Potts, who plays Sheldon’s grandmother Meemaw. “I love the children, and it's been a privilege to watch them grow up. [Iain is] so grown up, and when we started, he and Reagan would get on my lap and kiss me and play with my fingernails and my ears. They were tiny, and all day long, they just say, he would say — and they still do — ‘I love you. I love you, Miss Annie.’”

Related: Young Sheldon's Iain Armitage on Life After the Final Season and What He'll Keep from Big Bang Spinoff (Exclusive)

While Armitage recently told PEOPLE he was caught off guard by Young Sheldon’s popularity on Netflix — the streaming service rereleased the show in November 2023 — Potts is less surprised.

“I’m used to binging,” she explains. “The show is very consumable. The episodes end up being about 18, 19 minutes long, so you can watch three in an hour. So people are like, yeah, we're like ice cream with chocolate sauce on it. There's more and more and more — gimme. So I think it is a good fit there.”

Related: Young Sheldon's Netflix Surge Surprised 15-Year-Old Star Iain Armitage: 'I'm Not Hip with the Kids' (Exclusive)

And despite revolving around a once-in-a-generation genius growing up in Texas in the ‘90s, Young Sheldon also highlights many relatable themes.

“I think every family has an oddball in it: someone that they have to explain to others,” quips Potts. “It's like, I know. And so I think that that is relatable to watch a family try to navigate around this brilliant, difficult thing.”

Related: Everything to Know About Young Sheldon Season 7

The actress, who will reprise the role of Janine Melnitz in the upcoming film Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, also briefly waxed nostalgic regarding her decades-long career.

“I think it's amazing. I'm 71 now and I am still here!” she says, adding, “Endure, endure, endure. I mean, it hasn't been all sunshine and unicorns, but I have endured, and I am sort of a workaholic, so thank God it's kept coming, because I'm dangerous if I'm not working.”

One opportunity she wouldn’t turn down? An appearance on Hacks. If her former Designing Women costar Jean Smart came knocking, it would be a no-brainer for Potts.

“Oh God,” she exclaims. “I would be on my bicycle over to Universal in a flash!”

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Season 7 of Young Sheldon airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

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