Actress Gail Bean Shares Her Major Predictions For The Final Season Of Snowfall - Exclusive

Gail Bean has played Wanda on FX's "Snowfall" for the past 5 seasons, the show painting the social and political landscape of 1980s America and its increasing drug use crisis. In her exclusive interview with The List, the actress shared, "With Wanda, my biggest thing was honoring the time period." 

Comparing her work in "Snowfall" to her role in "P-Valley" Bean said, "It's definitely different on account of having to go a little deeper ... When you do a period piece, the period is also a character within the character."

She also explained that her preparation process differs between roles, especially those outside her realm of experience. "[It's] honoring the people from there, the locals. [That's] making sure that the accent was on-point, making sure I didn't modernize Wanda and play her like a current-date Los Angelian, and giving her the proper due from that period so people could have that nostalgia."

"Snowfall" fans can certainly feel Bean's authenticity through Wanda, and the actress has some thoughtful predictions for what will feel true to its characters and their circumstances in the show's final season.

When we spoke with Gail Bean about the emotions that come along with the final season of "Snowfall," she reflected on her character's journey since the show's premiere in 2017. "I have been trying to wrap my head around it, and I can't. I cannot see how this is going to end," she told us. "So much has transpired since Season 1, and the story has gone in places that makes sense but you also didn't see coming, so I cannot even imagine."

Bean also clarified that she doesn't have access to any of the plans for the end of the series. "I have no idea," she said. "We don't get scripts, especially not in advance." Bean predicts that she won't see the script until the day before shooting for Season 6 begins, given the pattern from previous seasons. "We have the table read, and then we start shooting it the very next day."

Despite being out of the loop, the actress was able to pick out a few narrative patterns the writers might explore. "If you look at current [events], they say history repeats itself. I would assume that what's happening now, the reflection of the times, is going to be what came before." 

Gail Bean threw out a few concrete theories about what will transpire in the final season. "I think Damson is going to die," she began. "I feel like so many people are going to die, and the person that's going to live is going to have no meaning of life, and it's going to be very hard to continue on."

Bean said that the feelings of injustice fans have felt for the show's characters are likely to continue throughout its last season and that it will bring an inevitable emotional response. "We're all going to be heartbroken, but it will be a very harsh reality of truth," she explained. "I definitely feel there will be no repercussions for the government. For them, it'll be another sweep under the rug — not even a bump in the road, but just move on to the next demise of a generation, to the next demise of a race."

However, the actress made sure to share what she hopes viewers will take with them into all of her projects, especially those that deal with subject matter as intense as "Snowfall" does. "I want them to be open and remove all judgment and watch with an understanding that it's art."

Season 2 of Gail Bean's project "P-Valley" is now available on Starz.