Netflix’s award-winning crime thriller Ozark recently came to an end after the jaw-dropping finale to its fourth and final season was released. Looking back on the series, actress Laura Linney admitted she almost didn’t portray Wendy Byrde as she initially didn’t want to do a show.
In season one Marty Byrde (played by Jason Bateman) relocated his family from Chicago to the Missouri Ozark.
He did so out of fear after watching his business partner get killed by the Mexican cartel after a business deal went wrong.
To avoid the same fate, Marty agreed to launder $500million in five years and thought the Ozarks would be secluded enough, where he’d go unnoticed.
However, this was not the case as all eyes were on the family, which led to Wendy stepping up and taking a leadership role to help Marty launder the cash.
READ MORE: America’s Got Talent: Simon Cowell in tears watching Nightbirde
As the season progressed, so did Wendy’s fascination with crime as she became a complex person who began to put the business before her children.
This took a negative toll on their daughter Charlotte Byrde (Sofia Hublitz) as she attempted to emancipate herself from the family in season two.
Although she changed her mind in the end, season four saw their son Jonah Byrde (Skylar Gaertner become filled with hatred for her.
This came after the shocking season three episode, where Wendy told the Navarro cartel the whereabouts of her brother Ben Daivs (Tom Pelphrey).
It was revealed Linney only joined the cast of Ozark after Marty’s Jason Bateman reached out to her.
She admitted: “I wasn’t looking to do a series, I really wasn’t, but it was really wanting to see what Jason was going to do.”
Jason was initially going to produce the entire first season, however, due to conflicts with his time and schedule, he wasn’t able to do so.
Instead, as well as starring in the show, Jason only directed nine episodes including the first two and the series finale.
Linney added: “Then talking to Chris [Mundy] and being like ‘Oh he’s pretty great,’ then I was like ‘Okay.’”
Showrunner Chris Mundy also revealed Linney’s addition to the cast was an added pressure.
He shared: “I remember saying to the writers ‘Laura Linney’s going to be on our show, we cannot suck.
“It’s not okay for us to suck if she’s going to be on our show,” he concluded.
Ozark is available on Netflix.