Allison Miller plays Maggie Bloom in A Million Little Things. After originally premiering in 2018, the show is currently finishing its fifth and final season. New episodes air Wednesdays at 10 PM ET on ABC.

In episode 5×11, “ironic,” Katherine and Greta celebrate their wedding in spite of several setbacks. Regina faces tough competition, while Maggie and Gary navigate parenting decisions.

We had a great conversation about Maggie becoming a mom, what fans can expect from the final three episodes, if she personally felt satisfied with the ending, saying goodbye to her character, what’s next, and more! Keep reading for all of the details.

The last time we spoke, we discussed Maggie possibly becoming a parent and now, she is! It has to be my favorite storyline of the season. We’re on the path to a happy ending for her, which I’m cautiously optimistic about. What was your reaction to that being her focus for the final season?
Allison Miller: I was really happy about it because it’s something that she’s wanted for so long and then wasn’t sure was ever gonna happen for her, and I think that was reflected in the last meeting when Gary and Maggie went to the cancer support group and she ran into a woman who was in a very similar position that she had been in. So, it’s just sort of feels like a really beautiful way to bookend things where season one, Maggie thought she wasn’t going to live at all and now, she is not only living and thriving, she’s bringing new life into the world. I think that’s really beautiful and the babies are so cute. They’re so cute, every single one. We have sets of twins because they only can work a certain number of like 20 minutes or 15 minutes. Oh my gosh, all of them. I miss them.

I love what you said about Maggie’s journey because it is such a hopeful story for anyone watching that might be in a similar situation. I think it’s a beautiful thing to leave audiences with as we close this chapter. She’s been a beacon of hope throughout the entire series, but this is a nice arc for her.
Yeah, I agree. I’ve seen friends of mine in real life go through issues with infertility, and two of them have these beautiful children now, and it’s such a wonderful thing to see that happen. So I’m glad Maggie got to represent that a little bit.

What was the most challenging aspect of that storyline?
Well, they do tell you never to work with babies or animals because they steal focus. It’s not just that, they just are like farting in the middle of takes on you and they’ve just got minds of their own. I mean, honestly, that’s not even the biggest challenge because I love being thrown into sort of a chaotic environment and seeing what happens on set. But I am not a mom and so having to put myself in those shoes was a really interesting path to take because that was my first time, I think, even playing a mother ever. So it was just a brand new thing to explore and yeah, it was really interesting to feel that for a few hours a day.

I like what you said about the chaos, did you get to do any improv during those scenes?
You kind of have to. There’s not a lot that we can get away with improvising on this show unless you’re James Roday Rodriguez, then you have a little bit more leeway. So sometimes when I’m in scenes with him, yes. With the babies, if they’re crying, you gotta roll with it. If they’re laughing, if they want to grab the boom that is hovering right above them, you gotta pretend like that’s normal and that’s something else that they’re going for, so it’s really just kind of adapting.

We saw your character have to fight for her position at work and that is, unfortunately, a very real struggle. What do you hope that shows to the women and moms watching?
I feel like it was done really well because it was never blatant what her boss was saying or doing, it was all sort of microaggressions. And even like, “Hey, we’re moving your show to Saturday,” he’s not saying we’re letting you go, but he is saying that. It’s essentially like, “You are not capable of being both a parent and working full time because no one is, little lady,” and I think that that is something that continues to happen. Maternity and parental leave in this country is not great, especially after shooting in Canada and seeing people take a year off of work and be supported. So again, not a mom, but I’ve watched so many of my friends go through that and they’ve luckily been in much more supportive work environments. But I thought it was really smart how the writers handled that because it never is like some bad guy coming and saying, “You have a baby and you’re out of here.” It’s much more subtle and it’s pervasive. It’s specifically worded so they don’t get in trouble but also get what they want.

I love seeing the family dynamic with Maggie and Gary as parents. What has that been like for you to do?
Oh, it’s so fun. I mean, I feel like Gary and Maggie are the weirdest parents you could possibly have and neither one of them feel particularly parental. They both have been living kind of in their own worlds for so long and so, now to have this really strong focus, I think, grounds them a lot in a way that makes their relationship even more solid and even more interesting to play because the focus is off of them now.

I feel like there were a lot of fun sequences that you were involved in this season, like the escape room, which I was living for. That was so fun to watch.
Yeah, that was my favorite set that we’ve ever been in. They built a whole escape room on our stages and I wanted to live in it. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I have never done an escape room and I did not go to one in anticipation of shooting that. But I understand, I get the gist and I think I would really like it. I like games and puzzles, but yeah, I just kind of winged it on that one.

What is ahead for Maggie the rest of this season?
We got three episodes left, right? Isn’t that weird? It’s so strange to think, I just finished the last ADR. Maggie’s role kind of becomes like… you know, she’s always been part of the support system for the friend group and I think that she becomes one in an even bigger way because she’s kind of been separated from everyone for a while with going to England and coming back, having the baby. It’s all been very focused on the core family, but these last three episodes, she really is there for people, and yeah, there’s just more of that kind of going back to season one where everyone is all together and everyone is supporting each other. And we get to see Maggie being a parent, which is really, really interesting to me.

I really enjoyed last week’s episode because we had the group together to talk to Regina about running for council. I don’t know how you all get through those scenes with all of you together, but I love them.
It’s not even us, I don’t know how the director survives and that was Christina. She came in saying, “Hey guys, you know that thing we do when we’re all together, we’re all loud and crazy, and we don’t get anything done, we’re not doing that.” We still did it though, and she was in the scenes and so she realized like, “Oh, I’m part of the problem.” But it’s fine, we get through them. It’s a long day, but we do it and it is very fun.

What can you tell me about how the show is going to come to an end? Were you personally satisfied?
Yes, I am very pleased with how everything ends. I think everybody’s left in a place where there’s a lot of hope and the idea of this chosen family being there for each other is stronger than ever. I think it’s a really nice send-off.

We have a wedding next! What can you tell me about that? What was it like to film?
Again, so fun. More people than ever, and we had some incredible guest stars who were there too. The actors who played Greta’s parents were so fun to watch. There’s a musical performance featuring myself and David, Maggie and Eddie. Yeah, I can tease that. Who cares? They sing at the wedding and play guitar, it’s really cute.

How was that?
The best. It was the best. DJ called and asked if I would want to do one more song because it had been a couple of seasons, I did stuff earlier, and I said, of course. Then I realized later that it was actually DJ’s wedding song that we were singing at the wedding. It was very sweet.

How did you say goodbye to this character and A Million Little Things?
We all got together on set on the last day and kind of watched the last scenes being filmed together and that was a really good way to send things off. Also, I just went into my trailer and kind of walked around, took down my weird Halloween art that I keep up year-round, and said my goodbyes verbally before I got in my car and drove away for the last time. So yeah, some little ceremonial goodbyes, but it’s just really strange to separate yourself from someone that you felt really connected to for five years. So, it’ll keep happening.

Was there a moment where it hit you that this experience was coming to an end?
I had a lot of them. Traditionally in life, I’m not good with change or transitions. So I spent a lot of time, kind of this whole last season, walking around the city and in the forest that I love to go to, kind of being hyper-present to everything that was around me and really taking it all in and appreciating it. Then on set, there were a few different times. I mean, when we’re all together, I spent a lot of time looking around at everyone and probably just grinning stupidly because I love everyone so much and there were a couple of scenes that really hit hard and I think that was helpful for the scenes, so I’ll leave it at that because those are still coming.

We’re in the age of reboots and revivals, and I know you just ended, but down the line, would you be open to revisiting this character in a movie or a short season to see where they are?
Sure, I don’t know. Yeah, not now, but yes, of course. It was such a gift to play Maggie for five years and so, I would do that again. I don’t know when or why that would happen. But sure.

Gary and Maggie’s son gets a spin-off.
Get us a little spin-off sitcom with those two.

If you could take someone from the cast and bring them into a completely different project, a new genre, what would you want to do with them?
Oh, I already did that. I took Christina Moses, who plays Regina, Lizzy Greene, who plays Sophie, and Andrea Bang, who plays Claudia, and I cast them in a short film that we made, that is a horror. We filmed the week after we wrapped in Canada, so I’m editing right now and so I did it. They’re so awesome and it was so fun to play with like a very, very different genre than our show.

Well, when that comes out, I’m asking all of you to do a group interview with me.
Oh, we’re in. I mean, I speak for myself, but I think they would be willing to do that too. We had a great time.

I’m ready to go.
Oh man, I took our whole crew, our editors, and our post people. I got everyone involved because I wasn’t quite ready to let go. It was like an amuse-bouche for whatever comes next.

What a fun genre to put everyone in!
They killed it. It was so good. I can’t wait for it to be all done.

Going forward, what are we going to seeing from you? Any dream projects that you want to do now that you’ve made us cry our eyes out for five years?
I wouldn’t mind doing a comedy, it’s been a minute. I’m actually going to Minnesota next month to shoot something with one of our directors from A Million Little Things. We just keep hanging out, we can’t let go of each other. Tessa Blake wrote and is directing this beautiful little indie film with one of my heroes, Carol Kane. So I’m extremely amped about that and that’s what’s happening next. Other than that, I’ll have my short and hopefully, take that to a bunch of festivals. I’d love to turn it into a feature and direct that, and just write some stuff. I wanna write some stuff and make things.

Lastly, what was your favorite episode to film this season?
I mean, the escape room was really fun, but I think our penultimate episode was my favorite one. It’s just, I think, really beautiful and moving, and yeah, I got to express a lot of what I was feeling about the show ending at work. So it felt really cathartic and special.