The Last Ship’s Bridget Regan on Sasha Cooper’s final mission

The Last Ship star Bridget Regan helps FanSided send off the show as she looks back at Sasha Cooper’s journey before The Last Ship season 5 ends.

Only three episodes of TNT‘s The Last Ship remain, but before the series finale, it’s time to look at the military drama’s breakout character.

Since her introduction in the third season, Sasha Cooper has been a scene-stealing heroine who’s had some of The Last Ship‘s best scenes. That comes courtesy of actress Bridget Regan, who has made Sasha one of the fiercest heroes on TV.

Before Sunday’s new episode, FanSided connected with Bridget to discuss her three seasons on The Last Ship, saying goodbye to the character of Sasha, and how she’s been able to portray so many strong women over her career.

Find out what Bridget Regan had to tell us below and then don’t miss a new installment of The Last Ship on TNT this Sunday, Oct. 28 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.

FanSided: How has the experience been watching the final season of The Last Ship and letting go of the character of Sasha Cooper?

Bridget Regan (BR): We wrapped the series so long ago [that] it’s rather a bizarre experience watching it all back. So much of it is coming back to me as I watch the show, and to be honest, I’m just filled with this pride and I’m so impressed with my comrades on this show and the work they’ve done.

Our longtime camera operator Bud Kremp directed [an] episode [“Tropic of Cancer”], and it was just such a wonderful moment to see him rise up. He really knows the show. You could argue he knows the show better than anyone excluding [co-creator] Steven Kane and the showrunners and writers. He’s watched the show through his lens for five seasons, and he got to step up and direct.

I thought he did such an amazing job, and I feel like our show has the best camera crew I’ve ever seen. The action and what they pull off is top notch. I was so excited to see that, and the work that my fellow actors did, I felt was just incredible across the board.

FS: The Last Ship was also your first series regular role in several years. What was the process of diving into such a complicated show?

BR: It was honestly a joy. When I started Last Ship it felt really frantic and crazy, because at the time I was on Jane the Virgin and Agent Carter. There were actually these crazy two days where both Agent Carter and Last Ship needed me and there was no budging — it couldn’t work with both schedules. We got it down to these 48 hours that couldn’t work, and I said to the productions if one of you can do a night shoot, I’ll work 48 hours in a row and I did it. It was absolutely insane.

But that being said, when I did join Last Ship, I was just trying to be so focused on what today was, what the scene was, what the next moment was, because I was so overwhelmed with all the series I was working on at the time. I felt like I was getting on a moving train with Last Ship because all of the actors were so versed in the physicality, the weaponry, the language, the Navy terminology, the military customs and traditions. I had a lot to learn. But thankfully I was surrounded by very generous actors and advisers so they helped me. There was a big learning curve when I joined.

FS: Did you explore everything you wanted to with Sasha Cooper, or are there things that you still want to know? Even in the final season, it seems like there’s so much to learn about her.

BR: The thing with The Last Ship is it’s an action-adventure show. These aren’t characters that talk about how they feel. They’re too busy saving the damn world. So I was always drawn to a lot of moments that we knew happened, but didn’t see them on screen.

I wanted to see the moment when Sasha and Chandler got back together, but we fast-forwarded over that. We skipped over their fresh start, as they called it, at the end of season 4. The truth is that stems from these characters’ responsibilities. They can’t afford to stop and have a romance.

We did get to see her with her hair down, literally, and I love that she’s the character that can be really feminine and masculine at the same time. I’m always drawn to characters when they’re two things at once, and she epitomizes that. She is able to live in this “man’s world,” so to speak, and carry her weight. She’s not a woman in distress. She’s a really self-sufficient, strong, capable fighter. But she’s also still a woman. I find those things interesting and I wanted to see more of that.

FS: You have played a lot of characters with two sides, including your characters in Agent Carter and Jane the Virgin. So how does Sasha Cooper compare to those past roles?

BR: The thing with Sasha is she’s got such intense training and duties. She’s a soldier at her core, and in that regard, when she gets her marching orders there’s nothing that’s going to stand in her way. There’s a determination and focus that I admire.

I love playing strong women. I’m with Jessica Chastain, that we’re all strong women. I’m always interested in what we’re capable of, and I love playing a character that’s inspiring to women, especially if it’s going to be inspiring to any other servicewomen out there, or men for that matter.

FS: Were you able to bring anything from those other characters to The Last Ship?

BR: Absolutely. I always think one thing leads to the next. The action that I did on [Legend of the] Seeker felt more like dance and related back to my dance training, and then as I progressed onto Agent Carter, there was a lot of that stuff coming back to me. This show, I didn’t have that much experience with the weaponry, so I had a lot to learn there. I had no knowledge of it.

That was actually the hardest part of the job for me, was embracing these automatic weapons because I have such conflicting feelings on it. But at the same time, we’re playing characters that should have these weapons, so I just had a lot to learn there. Thankfully, I was surrounded by real Navy SEALs that would teach me how to hold it and make it feel like it’s a part of your body.

FS: Are there other Bridget Regan projects that you’d recommend to The Last Ship fans as the show winds down?

BR: I’m super-passionate about my other show, Jane the Virgin. It couldn’t be more opposite of The Last Ship. Jane is such a feminine show at its heart; it’s a story about mothers and daughters, and also there happens to be a evil villainess that I get to play. It’s so much fun, and that show is also sadly coming to an end after this fifth and final season, but I’ve had the joy of playing with them for a couple episodes. Every time I’m there I marvel at Gina [Rodriguez], I marvel at Jennie [Snyder Urman], and I’m a fangirl of this show — the work they’re doing and also this beautiful message of what they’re promoting. I think it’s just so wonderful.

I wish [Agent Carter] would have gone on longer. I very much hope there’ll be some reincarnation or miniseries or movie or something, because I think Hayley [Atwell]’s work on that was so wonderful. And to have this feminist perspective on a period show, I still found it to be current and great. That’s the one that if it flew under someone’s radar, go watch it. Not just for me, because I loved playing that psychopath, but I think that the show and its message is done perfectly and beautifully.

The Last Ship airs Sundays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on TNT. For more TV interviews and news, follow the Television category at FanSided.