‘All American’ Star Daniel Ezra Reflects On His Exit & Says Season 6 Finale Is “Everything I Wanted”
SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from the Season 6 finale of The CW’s All American.
That’s a wrap on Daniel Ezra.
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After six seasons playing Spencer James, the actor is departing All American as a series regular. The finale episode bid farewell to Spencer and to Ezra with perhaps one of the most highly anticipated events of the entire series: a Spelivia wedding.
Spencer made it to the NFL, won the Super Bowl, and now he’s married the love of his life. The episode ends on a joyous note when Spencer and Olivia are able to tie the knot in the backyard of his childhood home, even after a weekend full of setbacks that made them think their wedding may no longer be possible (or, at least, not for another year).
For fans, it’ll be a moment they’ve been eagerly awaiting for the past six seasons. For Ezra, the end of the season was “literally everything I wanted.”
“Those last two episodes is just exactly the type of bow I wanted to tie on the story. It was confirmation that I was making the right choice, and it just felt like the stars were aligned,” he told Deadline.
In the interview below, Ezra reflected on his six seasons playing Spencer James and how it felt to officially bring that character arc to an end.
DEADLINE: What were the conversations like with Nkechi [Okoro Carroll] to decide this might be a good time for you to depart the show?
DANIEL EZRA: It was about the end of Season 5, as things were gearing up for Season 6. When I learned that Season 6 was going to go into Spencer finally getting into the NFL…I realized that I had kind of completed the mission. I had done what I had set out to do in regards to playing Spencer. I’d always wanted to get him to the NFL. I’d always wanted him to put himself back together again and heal from his wounds and turn him into a man. I realized that, with this upcoming season, we had actually done that.
That, coupled with my own personal feelings career-wise, and just feeling ready myself for that next chapter and that next challenge. I’ve been playing this character for six years now. Everything in my gut felt like that. But I didn’t know that they were even going to say yes, that it was even something that was as much in my hands as it was. But again, this was a testament to NK. She was open to at least just having a conversation and hearing me out. Our feelings aligned after a long conversation, and my feelings kind of inspired her to come up with this season-long goodbye for Spencer. It actually ended up being, I believe, the perfect time for it, a really great way to kind of close out this season. Hopefully moving forward [it will] take All American into a new place as well. So it just felt right on all fronts.
DEADLINE: So, how did you feel about getting those additional two episodes? That is really what allowed the story to end on such a satisfying note for Spencer and Olivia.
EZRA: I’m not very superstitious. Every now and then, sometimes things will happen, and I’m like, ‘Woah.’ That was one of those things, because it was such the perfect amount of time we needed to really wrap it up and really say goodbye. It made sure that these big final moments that everyone’s been waiting for, like the wedding and the draft and all these things, weren’t rushed. So we were able to take our time even more, which doesn’t always happen, especially on network TV. It showed a lot of grace from The CW and Warner Bros. to be able to give us that time to do what we needed to do. I was really grateful for that, and I think it allowed us to do exactly what we wanted to do. The way it ends is literally everything I wanted. Those last two episodes is just exactly the type of bow I wanted to tie on the story. It was confirmation that I was making the right choice, and it just felt like the stars were aligned.
DEADLINE: What was it like on set during filming for those final episodes?
EZRA: You could feel everyone’s emotions rising as we were coming closer to it. Everyone was just trying to stay professional, especially me, because we had a job to do. But you could feel it, once we got into the last two, once we got into the wedding. Especially me and Sam, because so much of those last two episodes is reminiscent and nostalgia and talking about how far we’ve come. So that’s probably the thing I’m most proud of, is how far we’ve come. Having two episodes dedicated to those memories was very emotional. You’ve still got work to do, and you’ve still got scenes to shoot, so it wouldn’t make sense if we’re crying through everything. You have to stay in control. I made it my mission to really soak it all up these last two episodes, and we definitely did.
DEADLINE: Were there any particular scenes that really put it in perspective that your time on the show was ending? Any moments where you thought, ‘Woah. This is really happening.’?
EZRA: I would say, the scene with Coop and I on the swing in the last episode that happens during the wedding. I was so grateful for that scene, because that swingset meant so much to this story. I remember the first time we shot there, how young Bre-Z and I both were, how different everything was. The fact that the writers, amongst all the celebration, gave us this quiet moment. It could have been so easy to just have pure celebration, just big set pieces right up to the end. But having them find those quiet moments for those really profound, possibly final, hopefully not final, conversations…it meant a lot to me, and those were the ones I found myself moved the most, because I was able to look back on everything Spencer had been through, literally on that swing. The amount of life changing, important conversations and exchanges of advice had been given between just these two characters and those swings was huge, and getting to revisit that one more time unexpectedly made me emotional.
The same when Spencer is thanking his father figures for everything they’ve done. That was another really special, quiet moment for me, where he’s able to look D’Angelo, Dr Spears, Coach Kenny, and Preach in the eye and thank them all for filling those holes that were left by Billy and Corey, that meant a lot to me, personally, as well. Those quiet moments amongst all the all the joy, anything that acknowledged how far he came meant a lot to me.
DEADLINE: Spencer and Olivia have been through a lot. Olivia even spirals about that in the final episodes, wondering if it’s an indictment on their relationship. I wonder, was there ever a moment where you were fatigued by the amount of obstacles they faced?
EZRA: Well, that’s just good television. Good television frustrates you at times. When I think back to the shows that I love, there’s always a character, or characters or a relationship that just can’t get it together, and you tune in to see if they will this time. It’s just a testament of good writing. That’s how you sustain a relationship on TV for six seasons. You give them obstacles. You give a little bit, and then you take it away, and then you give a little bit more, and you take it away. I feel like a couple as perfect as Spencer and Olivia, you kind of have to earn that. You kind of have to put them through the ringer. I think the reason the wedding, the vows, everything that happens in those last episodes, feels so good and feels so much like this big, beautiful exhale, is because of the trials and tribulations.
I think if it was just smooth sailing from Season 1 or 2 right through to now, it wouldn’t hit as hard. It wouldn’t feel as earned. It wouldn’t be as as a joyful an experience…That’s why that wedding is going to hit so hard, because, we all felt like we had to work for it, and we did. Everybody did, including the fans.
DEADLINE: Well, Coop does say it in her officiant speech. I think everyone was waiting for this moment.
EZRA: I’m just glad we were able to. The worst thing in the world we would have been putting all that work in, and I don’t know, us getting cancelled or us maybe not getting those episodes to do it right. That would have been unfair. Then I would have definitely felt very guilty, because it would have been all work and no payoff. But this time, at least, I’m glad we get to do the payoff. It’s such a beautiful one.
DEADLINE: What were the storylines from the past six seasons that challenged you the most?
EZRA: I think the two storylines following Corey’s death and Billy’s death. Spencer’s two fathers. Those are such dark places for him. As an actor, there’s a real gift to build life into those scenes, but they were tough. They were really challenging. That’s the most unrecognizable we see Spencer — in his anger, in his depression, in his pain. The bad and painful choices he makes and has to come back from during those arcs…when you’re playing a character this long, you root for them, you fall in love with them a little bit. Reading the scripts for those episodes, the actor in me would be excited for what I got to do. But, me as a fan [and] me as a champion of this guy that I care about, it’s like watching your friend spiral and go into a dark place. It was tough to watch. Those are challenging, but they were also some of the most rewarding as well.
DEADLINE: Is there anything you’re looking forward to about being on the outside looking in now, with All American?
EZRA: I’m looking forward to being a fan from the outside. I feel like the wise elder, almost like the Jedi Master. I can’t wait to make room for this new generation and whatever. There’s nothing in stone. NK is still figuring out how she wants to do it…but I think it’s safe to say there’s going to be new people to fall in love with, a new generation to follow. I’m excited for them, and I’m really happy for them. I can’t wait to help guide them. This is a weird thing, handing it off to other people. But there’s also like a proud, sending your kid off to college type of moment as well.
DEADLINE: Would you be open to directing more episodes?
EZRA: Oh, for sure. I love directing. I love it, and I’m still very new to it. I’m only three episodes in, even though they’ve been three big episodes. It’s still a small amount of experience. So any chance I get to flex that muscle again, I’ll take. If they’ll have me, I’ll take it for sure. I would love to.
DEADLINE: What’s next for you?
EZRA: A lot of different things in front of and behind the camera. We’re working hard on the next chapter. It’s really exciting. That unknown is exciting again. Job security doesn’t come often into an actor’s life. So having that for the last six years has been wonderful. This role was everything I’d been looking for at the time, but that unknown and mystery is also kind of exciting too. I’m excited to do movies. Movies is a new thing for me. I’ve done a lot of TV. I came up in theater, and so movies is very much the thing that I’m most excited to do. We have some really exciting projects coming up, things that I’m developing myself, things that I’m working on and jumping into too. I’m excited to see how the next year or so pans out. I think it’s gonna be really cool.
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