Saying goodbye to the characters they play is part of the job for actors. No TV series has lasted forever, so eventually having to part ways with a show’s fictional world and their fellow actors simply comes with the territory. In some cases, though, that inevitable ending is still exceedingly emotional. According to actor Aaron Ashmore, who portrays Duncan Locke on Locke & Key, the final season of which recently premiered on Netflix, this happens most often when familial bonds are at the center of a show.

Amanda Matlovich/Netflix

“[Saying goodbye] becomes more difficult for me when there are elements of family involved, and this show is massively about that,” Ashmore tells Tudum. Locke & Key’s themes of family history, intergenerational trauma and grieving loved ones fostered genuine bonds among the actors playing the Locke family members, which then manifested on screen over the show’s three seasons. “The love and connectivity of them as characters on screen was not hard to achieve,” co-showrunner Carlton Cuse says. “They truly became a surrogate family behind the scenes with Darby [Stanchfield] as the den mother. Connor [Jessup] and Emilia [Jones] will be like brother and sister for life. Jackson [Robert Scott] was just adored by everybody. It was a special level of connection that occurred. Having been a showrunner for a while, I can tell you it does not happen like that all the time. It was a rare level of alchemy on this show.”

That connectedness was felt by every actor who portrayed a member of the Locke family. Stanchfield refers to it as “a natural chemistry,” which is on full display even when the cast speaks with Tudum together on a Zoom call. Jessup and Jones tease Scott about accidentally being on mute, and all three of them laugh while reminiscing about how silly they felt acting out some of the season’s most intense stunts. “I don’t know why the thought of me and Emilia on that motorcycle together continues to be so funny to me,” Jessup shares. As the youngest actors chatter away, with Ashmore jumping in like the fun uncle character he plays, Stanchfield nods along with a sweet supportive smile. This maternal quality is something she credits to her time playing Nina Locke.

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“I’m not a mother,” she tells Tudum. “This is the first series where I play a mother, so I learned a lot about motherhood and about what that kind of love means.” Part of that journey was getting to know her on-screen kids on an individual level. “I learned a lot from my co-stars, who played my kids,” she says. “These guys, they all are quite different, and I just enjoyed taking them in and being aware and sensitive to when to be there or when to step back.” Filming Seasons 2 and 3 back-to-back in a quarantine bubble made those relationships feel even more intense but also all the more special, according to Stanchfield. “With the lockdown, you become a little bit more vulnerable.” Plus, shooting the show was the only opportunity the actors had to do certain things that were otherwise off-limits in the midst of a pandemic — like, say, having a party.

Duncan and Brian's Wedding | Locke & Key S3E2The Lockes host a wedding at Keyhouse.

In Season 3’s second episode, “Wedding Crashers,” Duncan marries his longtime boyfriend, Brian (Milton Barnes), in an elaborate wedding set on the grounds of Keyhouse that Nina, Tyler (Jessup), Kinsey (Jones) and Bode (Scott) help throw. “I think we shot it in May of last year,” Ashmore recalls. “And it felt like a real wedding. There were a lot of people, all these friendly faces. We shot it for days, and at that point, at least for me, that was the first gathering of people of that size that I had been at in a year.” Stanchfield agrees that the whole thing felt genuinely “celebratory.”

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At the mention of this fictional wedding that actually brought loved ones together, these five actors who played a family on television dissolve into a naturally joyous conversation about reception dance moves and joke about sneaking booze. And it’s clear — they may have said goodbye to the Lockes when Locke & Key recently wrapped after three heartwarming, fantastical, and dramatic seasons, but the kind of magic that’s intrinsic within a family unit like this one lives on.