Kurt Russell on "capturing the tragedy" in heartbreaking Monarch finale

The actor stars as the older version of army officer Lee Shaw in the MonsterVerse series alongside his son Wyatt Russell. The final episode sees Shaw finally reunite with Mari Yamamoto's Keiko, who had been stuck in the Hollow Earth, and, therefore, stuck as a younger version of herself.

However, their reunion is short-lived. With the group fleeing from titans, Shaw sacrifices himself to send Keiko, Cate (Anna Sawai) and May (Kiersey Clemons) back to reality.

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Russell explained: "It actually was [emotional to film]. Yeah. I just said to Mari last night, 'I have some sort of emotional connection with you. I don't know what it is. But the minute I see you, I cry!'

"I just thought it was important to capture the absolute tragedy in this adventure for her and for him. And it was tantamount that Wyatt would be able to capture that with her early on because it's, you talk about slow burn – that's the definition of it from 1 to 10.

"I mean, I really don't think you see that coming. And then it just gets heavier and heavier and heavier for her. So that's what drove us. That's what drove us that was not there, and we wanted to make sure it was there.

"The guys were great – [showrunners] Chris Black, Matt Fraction. They understood what it was, if we're going to do this, it's gotta have something special to it. And I feel that in a [series] that, at end of the day, has Godzilla as a backdrop and other monsters, that's not something we've seen."

Black and Fraction previously told RadioTimes.com of how the father and son built the character of Lee Shaw: "Kurt would show up when Wyatt was shooting, Wyatt would show up when Kurt was shooting... You watch Lee become Shaw and you watch Shaw rediscover what it was like to be Lee over the span of the run, and you would watch them build this out.

"There were moments where you can see Wyatt kind of [channelling] his dad; he sort of changes his posture and does the head thing and just as, like, fans – like, lifelong fans – it was awesome to see their process as actors.

"And I think they understood that that character is the linchpin that ties all the different eras together."

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is available to stream now on Apple TV+ – sign up to Apple TV+ now. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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