Cast Reactions to Cancellation

[Bodewhin]

Outside of Rafe Judkins, Rosamund Pike, Madeleine Madden, Josha Stradowski and Marcus Rutherford did any of the main cast or crew ever comment on the WOT coming to an end/being cancelled?

 

I ask, because I never saw anything from Daniel Henney, Zoe Robins, Donal Finn or the rest. In fact, it feels like Daniel Henney and Zoe Robins were completely sidelined with promotion and interviews after season 2.

 

This is not a baiting topic, I'm genuinely curious. 

[zacz1987]

I think the cast had known for a long time and were just not allowed to say anything until the press release.

 

Most of them would have gotten over their shock a long time ago.

[Mailman]

Did we ever learn the reason for the original Mat leaving?

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

5 hours ago, Mailman said:

Did we ever learn the reason for the original Mat leaving?

Someone said elsewhere on the forum there was no mystery but he left to act in a different project but I have never seen anything confirming this. Not, admittedly, that I have tried very hard to find anything recently. 

[Bodewhin]

There's never been any more light shown upon Barney Harris' departure since his lawyers debunked his leaving over vaccine issues. His statement was something like "extremely personal reasons" and his listed projects jump from the show to a couple of years later, so apparently he took time away. I guess we'll never really know unless someone revisits in a decade. 

 

Daniel Henney left Criminal Minds to be on WOT so technically he should have been wide open. Also, while I get marketing might have limited what cast members to focus on, social media is a thing so it seems odd to me that so many who spent 2 or 3 years on the series had no parting words or comments when it ended. 

[Raal Gurniss]

On 9/19/2025 at 12:10 AM, Bodewhin said:

Outside of Rafe Judkins, Rosamund Pike, Madeleine Madden, Josha Stradowski and Marcus Rutherford did any of the main cast or crew ever comment on the WOT coming to an end/being cancelled?

 

I ask, because I never saw anything from Daniel Henney, Zoe Robins, Donal Finn or the rest. In fact, it feels like Daniel Henney and Zoe Robins were completely sidelined with promotion and interviews after season 2.

 

This is not a baiting topic, I'm genuinely curious. 

I would only say the predictable reasons that aren't popular(to the powers that be) to say.

 

I suspect they knew even before they were told, they could only have felt their days were numbered....I mean getting renewed before the consumer gets to even see the product, when most other shows have to earn another series must seem rather suspicious, especially when you know the show just isn't that good.

 

I feel sorry for the cast.

[Loose Theremin]

On 9/20/2025 at 1:35 AM, HeavyHalfMoonBlade said:

Someone said elsewhere on the forum there was no mystery but he left to act in a different project but I have never seen anything confirming this. Not, admittedly, that I have tried very hard to find anything recently. 

 

The IMDb page for Barney Harris says that his next job after leaving Wheel of Time in 2021 was The Severed Sun in 2024. So on the face of it he doesn't seem to have left WoT for another acting role.

[Loose Theremin]

On 9/19/2025 at 8:08 PM, Mailman said:

Did we ever learn the reason for the original Mat leaving?

 

I remember seeing a little clip of Josh (Rand), Marcus (Perrin) and Barney (Mat) sitting at a bench on set and Rafe was standing there smiling and talking to them. Josh and Marcus were smiling back and interacting with Rafe in a " Yes boss, whatever you say boss !" kind of way but Barney wasn't responding at all. Make of that what you will.

Edited September 24 by Loose Theremin
Correction

[WoTwasThat]

I heard he was somewhere into his read of Crossroads of Twilight when he left. Make of that what you will. 

[Bodewhin]

Barney Harris left before Season 1 even finished. It's a mystery but ..

 

I was more interested in post cancellation reactions from the cast that stuck around. Which I haven't seen a whole lot of. Daniel Henney and Zoe Robins seemed like they were actively doing interviews around season 2. I just find it odd only a handful of the cast had anything to say when all was said and done. 

Edited October 4 by Bodewhin

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

22 hours ago, Bodewhin said:

Barney Harris left before Season 1 even finished. It's a mystery but ..

 

I was more interested in post cancellation reactions from the cast that stuck around. Which I haven't seen a whole lot of. Daniel Henney and Zoe Robins seemed like they were actively doing interviews around season 2. I just find it odd only a handful of the cast had anything to say when all was said and done. 

I'm not sure. The publicity ones are probably contractually stipulated and very much in the actors best interests. Once it has been cancelled, it is questionable how much it is. There are probably NDAs and any anecdotes that an A list celebrity might get pumped for could be dangerous to the actors or their colleagues. I don't see outlets giving time to in depth analysis of cancelled shows, and the actors themselves putting stuff out on social media or whatever probably would be advised against anything except the most generic to be professional. 

[Andra]

On 9/23/2025 at 11:51 PM, Loose Theremin said:

 

The IMDb page for Barney Harris says that his next job after leaving Wheel of Time in 2021 was The Severed Sun in 2024. So on the face of it he doesn't seem to have left WoT for another acting role.

Actually, his first job after leaving was Executive Producer on a short horror film released in 2022.

He may have left because he wanted to get behind the camera, rather than just act.

[Bodewhin]

Daniel Henney finally acknowledged WOT on his Instagram .

[Sabio]

They might not have known but my guess is they at least suspected it was coming.  The person at Amazon responsible for signing WOT was fired, so that's never a good sign.  Not to mention the longer the delay is agreeing to a new season the more worry there should be.  Finally, Amazon was already talking about cutting expenses.

[Kaleb]

Rosamund Pike Urges Another Studio to Rescue ‘Wheel of Time’ for Season 4: ‘Be Wise and Pick It Up’

 

The headline here is clickbait, here are the quotes from RP, taken from the longer interview at Collider:

 

“The fans said Season 1 wasn’t good enough, which I think I agree with, for multiple reasons,” Pike said. “We were beset by COVID in the middle of our shooting. We had some heads of department change. Then, by Season 2, we knew what we were doing, and we offered up a much better season. By Season 3, I think we had our wings fully spread, and we were showing where we were capable of going, and there was a really well-acted, well-written, cohesive, deep show that was attracting powerhouse actors to come and play supporting characters. I think we showed what we were capable of doing with that material.”

 

She added: “Of course, you wonder, had we started off at that place, would we not have been canceled? Maybe. I think we’re possibly victims to the terrible churn factor of people wanting to show that ‘We’ve got a new show.’ It’s all about what’s new.”

 

“In my dreams, another studio would be wise and pick it up,” she said. “We have such an amazing team now. We have the ability to make a great final sequence of seasons for this show.”

 

She finished: “We know what to do with these books now, so who knows? But I think we have to accept that it’s over.”

 

Edited November 14 by Kaleb

[HeronMarkedBlade]

Yeah, nobody is saving this series. It was never an option. Viewership had a huge drop off after s1, and that continued. There is not a fanbase big enough to make continuing a viable option. Especially at the ridiculous cost associated with the series. Book readers bailed early, and picking up new fans just wasn’t going to happen. 
 

what I want is an animated series that actually follows the books. But that is also unlikely. 

[Kaleb]

2 hours ago, HeronMarkedBlade said:

 Book readers bailed early, and picking up new fans just wasn’t going to happen. 

Both these claims are false. Lots of book readers here and elsewhere very much enjoyed the series. Lots of new fans discovered it. You can argue that there weren't enough of them, sure, but there were many thousands of both.