Grab the Tissues! The Bold Type Stars Told Us the Sentimental Items They Kept From Set

We’re about to embark on the final season of Stan’s hit show, The Bold Type, and in honour of the show’s end, POPSUGAR Australia sat down (via Zoom) with the three stars of the series — Australia’s Aisha Dee (Kat), Meghann Fahy (Sutton) and Katie Stevens (Jane).

Being the final season, we couldn’t help but ask if the cast kept anything sentimental from their time on the show.

“I did take a butterfly pillow that was on Jane’s couch,” Stevens told POPSUGAR Australia before adding that she also took some photos of the three girls that were in the apartment.

“At one of the last scenes that we did in the conference room, they had a whole tray of mugs that said Scarlet on them, so I stole one of those,” she admitted. “I then told the girls and Aisha went in and stole two, one for her and Meghann.”

While Dee took some “cool books”, Fahy said that her most sentimental piece came from Sutton’s wedding to Richard (Sam Page).

“When Richard and Sutton got married, they had little photos on the tables and I took one of those,” she said.

The beloved series will air on Stan from Thursday, May 27, 2021, and when season four ended, Kat, Jane and Sutton were at their limits both personally and professionally at Scarlet Magazine.

With the official synopsis reading: “The final season will see them on the brink of defining who they really are and how to best leave their mark on the world. Their futures are bright, and their love and support for each other will never change.”

Here, Dee, Fahy and Stevens discuss how their characters have evolved, if they got to keep any of their amazing wardrobe and where they think their characters will be in five years time.

Anita Anabel: Hi girls! I’d like to start off by saying how sad I am that the show will be coming to an end after this season. It’s been so wonderful to watch and experience these incredible characters.

How would you say that Sutton, Jane and Kat have evolved from season one to now?

Meghann Fahy: I think Sutton’s journey is pretty specific to her asserting herself. In the first season, you really see her struggle with that, but there’s such a huge payoff for her. She’s an assistant for multiple seasons — which is something that people have said is so realistic — and in season five, you finally get to see her in a space where she’s taken a sense of ownership of the things she’s accomplished, which is really great.

Katie Stevens: As I was listening to Meghan talk, I feel all their journeys are so different. I feel like Jane’s arc was about finding what makes her special and what makes her stand out and step into the power. When we first met Jane, she was so eager to become a writer and idolised Jacqueline, and throughout the seasons, you saw her making choices and seeking Jacqueline’s approval. And then in season four, becoming an editor and a boss in her own right. I think it’s been beautiful to see the evolution of her no longer seeking approval, and just wanting to be taken more seriously.

This season, we see her stepping into that power and navigating what that looks like, and how she wants to be ‘Jane the boss’, not ‘Jane trying to be Jacqueline’, and what that looks like for her moving forward in her life.

Aisha Dee: I think for all three of the girls, it’s about stepping into their power and becoming their most authentic selves, the version of themselves which is the truest and for each of them that means different things.

I think for Kat — especially in the last few seasons — Kat’s journey has been about learning how to use her privilege to be a source for good because she has so much privilege and she’s able to move through the world in a very specific way and so it’s about tapping into that and being like, ‘Okay, well, I’m going to use that privilege to fight for what I believe in’.

AA: Meghann, Sutton went through such a major life decision at the end of last season. There was with her split from Richard and then she decided she didn’t want to have children. More women are deciding to be child-free these days. How did you feel having the responsibility to portray such an important storyline?

MF: Well, Aisha has said this really well before, which is that there’s just no way that you can tell a version of any story that could be personal to another person and cover it.

I do feel like an honour in bringing that story to the screen and it all started with the miscarriage as well, which is another thing that I’m so happy that we touched on in the show because it’s really tough for people sometimes to process those things, and to have conversations about them. I have so much respect for anybody’s journey with with any of that. I myself have never gone through it but I learned a lot through Sutton and through telling that story.

I think that our writers were really thoughtful about it and so I felt really proud to be a vessel for that.

AA: Aisha, you’ve been vocal about storylines on the show before. Were you happy with the final season?

AD: It’s so hard to finish any show? Like, how do you begin to actually finish the story because our lives; they keep going. There’s no real ending to anything. I was really surprised with the last season of the show. I was not expecting it to end the way that it did. But I think it’s really cool and I really hope that people find the sense of comfort that people have found in the show.

I feel really seen by Sutton and I feel really seen by Jane and I think that’s the special element of the show. We all care really deeply. I think the show starts conversations, it doesn’t solve issues, it just starts conversations and sometimes these conversations are really messy. But it’s important that we have the conversations because they lead to the next conversation which eventually, hopefully, leads to some real change.

AA: And Katie, really serious question. Who is now your behind-the-scenes scare target and will it always be Meghann?

KS: (Laughs) I’ve started to set my sights on Aisha. There have been a few and I did actually enlist Meghann’s help in one of the scares. It’s literally an entire 30 seconds of me and Meghann whispering and Meghann’s like, ‘I’m going to go hide over there.’ And I’m like, ‘no, hide right here.’ She said, ‘I’m telling you, she’s not going to be scared’. And I was like, ‘Yes, she is going to be scared’. And she goes, ‘When she’s not, don’t come crying to me about it!’. And then Aisha walks in 20 seconds later and we pop out from a little dark corner.

AA: I’m so glad you took that question so seriously. We really did need to know!

KS: Honestly, I am so cruel. I really need to stop if I want to keep my friends. I know that I’m asking for really cruel karma because they are gonna get me back one day. It’s going to be bad.

AA: Katie, did you get to speak to any journalists or editors to prepare for your role over the years?

KS: When I booked the show, Joanna [Cole] invited us to come to Cosmopolitan and I happened to be in New York so I went and visited the offices. I only had a pilot script at this point. I was talking with the writers, and in Joanna Coles office talking to her and in their fashion closet. Just walking around the magazine to get a vibe.

Throughout the seasons, we’ve spoken to journalists but I do know that with each season, the writers talk to Joanna and get information from people about different experiences. It’s so nice having her as an executive producer.

AA: You all have arguably one of the best wardrobes in television. Did you get to keep any of the clothes on set?

AD: We all bought stuff. We did not get to take anything, but we did get to purchase with some dollars. I got some cool stuff. I got some cool boots that made me feel like Daria. Remember that show?

AA: Of course! La La La La! (Laughs) How much of a say did you get into what you all wore?

AD: I was always like, let’s get really wild with it! Let’s do everything that we probably shouldn’t.

MF: We’ve never really worked with a costume designer that wasn’t open to our ideas, but I personally didn’t have that many thoughts because unlike Sutton, I’m no fashionista! So, I would just show up to my fittings and say, “do your worst!”.

AA: What about any sentimental pieces from the set?

AD: I got some cool stuff. I got some books that I really like.

KS: I did take a butterfly pillow that was on Jane’s couch. I took some photos of the three of us that was in the apartment and on set, at one of the last scenes that we did in the conference room, they had a whole tray of mugs that said Scarlet on them, so I stole one of those. I then told the girls and Aisha went in and stole two, one for her and Meghann.

MF: When Richard and Sutton got married, they had little photos on the tables and I took one of those. I’ve pilfered some things through the years, but nothing really consequential.

AA: Except for all those amazing memories, right?

MF: Right!

AA: In the last few years, there was the introduction of “the dot.com”. Do you know how many times those words were said in the show?

KS: I don’t know what the official count is but I would love somebody to do a tally! I think someone needs to. It would be such a good compilation video!

The other weird thing we always said was, what was it again?

AA/MF & AD: (Simultaenously) Vertical!

KS: Yes, but I also think it was “digital site”. We said that a lot too!

AA: So now the show is coming to an end, what do each of you think your characters would be doing in five years time?

MF: Maybe living on a farm in Pennsylvania. It’s just what it is at this point. I have no confusion about that.

KS: I think Jane went through the whole process of freezing her eggs and maybe she’s fallen in love and has had a baby.

AA: Hopefully with her co-worker Scott! He’s gorgeous. Actually, all the men on the show are good looking.

AD: They’re all very symmetrical people. (Laughs) I think for Kat it could go one of two ways. She’s either going to be Madam President or living on a farm in Pennsylvania… or both!

KS: Well, they’re all in Pennsylvania on a farm. That’s a given!

AA: (Laughs) Of course they are! What a silly question! Thank you so much for being so gracious with your time and congratulations on season five!

Stream season 5 of The Bold Type from May 27 only on Stan.