'Castle' Alum Stana Katic Has Surprising Thoughts on the Show After 4 Years After Firing

Former Castle star Stana Katic had some surprisingly pleasant memories to share about working on the ABC series, which co-starred Nathan Fillion. Katic was fired after the show's eighth season, as ABC decided against renewing her contract for a potential ninth. The show did not return, so fans never got to see what the show would be like with only Fillion's Richard Castle leading the way.

"I was confused by the entire experience. I was hurt," Katic told News Corp Saturday, via the Daily Mail. "But look, time has passed and I am so thankful to have been a part of that project, for it to have affected as many people as it did. People loved that couple and loved the story we told, loved all of those characters."

Castle aired eight seasons on ABC from 2009 to 2016 and was created by Andrew W. Marlowe. The series began with Katic's homicide detective Kate Beckett assigned to solve crimes with Castle, a mystery novelist. At first, Kate was not happy with the idea, but the two eventually come to terms with the situation and even fell in love. In April 2016, ABC shockingly announced Katic would not be coming back after Season 8, but the network canceled the show weeks later anyway. Fans ended up with a rushed finale that tacked on an ending revealing Castle and Beckett still lived together seven years after the events of the show and had three children together.

In 2018, Katic told Entertainment Weekly she was "still not clear" about the "thought process" behind her firing. "It hurt and it was a harsh ending, but now, nearly two years later," Katic said at the time. "I met so many beautiful people on that project, and we collaborated on something really unique in that it's not every day that you get a show, or a series, that has eight seasons and that it was a hit for the network."

"It would be a disservice to those people, to the work that we did together, and to my work, which I feel contributed, in part, to the success of the show, to be anything but grateful because, at the end of the day, that was a fantastic platform," she continued. "It was a formative experience, and we told a love story that I feel moved people, touched people, and I can't be anything but glad that I was a part of something like that. I hope it remains something special in viewers' minds forever."

Katic now stars in Absentia, which is available on Amazon Prime in the U.S. The series stars Katic as an FBI agent who is found six years after she was declared dead in absentia and has no memory of those six years. It was created by Gaia Violo and Matt Cirulnick, and was renewed for a third season.