We spent the last few weeks discussing Archie Panjabi’s exit from The Good Wife – go here to read my post about her last episode. For years now, there seemed to be a lot of quiet drama behind-the-scenes at The Good Wife, as “someone” actively tried to push Archie’s character Kalinda away from major storylines and away from the lead character, Alicia, played by Julianna Margulies. I’ll admit that I’ve been following the conspiracies and rumors for a while now, and I believe many of them. Many people say that Julianna has been trying to get Archie off the show for years, and many say that Julianna is the one with the problem, not Archie. When Archie was asked flat-out if her last scene was actually filmed with Julianna on the set, even Archie couldn’t defend it, basically saying that none of it was her call.
But what if Archie was the one creating problems all along? Eh. That’s what In Touch Weekly posited in their newest issue:
On The Good Wife, Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi play best friends — but in real life, the two ladies are enemies! Which explains why the costars haven’t shared a scene since 2013…
“Archie created a hostile environment,” a source tells In Touch, noting that the 43-year-old — who has since left the show — allegedly treated the crew like her personal employees.
The source adds, “She has an abusive nature. Once, she even slammed a door in Julianna’s face!”
Apparently the 48-year-old star of the show wasn’t the only one who had drama with Archie.
“Everyone despised Archie onset,” the source adds. “They called her the ‘diva from hell.’”
I’m sure the crew did say something about a “diva from hell” but I’m not sure they were saying it about Archie. Archie always had a good reputation on The Good Wife, with the producers and writers publicly praising her professionalism. She also has a good reputation on all the projects she’s worked on in the past – she and Gillian Anderson get along really well on The Fall, and Archie left CBS with a lucrative development deal already in place at Fox. And for what it’s worth, Archie denied it herself:
Complete and utter rubbish!
http://t.co/3CmrvBOAdy
— Archie Panjabi (@PanjabiArchie) May 29, 2015
As Pajiba noted too – it seems like The Good Wife has a lot of issues keeping supporting players, from Josh Charles to Matthew Goode (who is not coming back). It feels like there IS a “difficult” cast member… and it’s not Archie.
Photos courtesy of WENN, CBS/The Good Wife.
Well this was predictable. 😂
Yes, I can just imagine Julianna yelling at her publicist and encouraging him to put out a counter story to all the allegations against her. Has Julianna always had such a resting b*tch face? Even when she is seemingly happy, her eyes narrow and the corners of her mouth have the stench of cynicism and bitterness.
Yeah, I don’t believe any of this.
JM was the alpha dog on that show, the producers did her bidding.
Years ago, I used to like Julianna, she always seem to be so affable in interviews. But I saw her at my old hair salon MANY years ago as she was sitting with us common folk, and she seemed pretty miserable. Apparently, there was VIP area for celebrities and models that did not want to sit out in the common space, I am not sure why she didn’t opt to sit there instead.
Anyway, she was out in the common area and was not friendly at all. My Mom simply smiled at her (didn’t utter a word) and she completely rebuffed her. That may not seem like a big deal to most, but if you are rude to my Mom in any way, that’s it, as far as I am concerned. Jeez, as if even feigning a half smile for a milliisecond would have killed this woman? So, after that experience I never cared for her and thought she seemed like she could be a b. So, I tend to believe Panjabi’s version of the story.
In meantime, on the same day, I got stuck at one of the sinks with a really stinky treatment on my hair. It was so bad that a woman next to me asked to be moved to another sink-LOL! Anyway, the next woman to take her place was non other than Ms. Candice Bergen (whom I love). She was lovely, friendly to all and didn’t even complain about how badly I smelled! I felt so bad, I apologized to her for the odor emanating from my treatment, and she replied, “Oh, no apology necessary.” Class act all the way. Julianna could take some lessons from Ms. Bergen about being gracious and having humility.
So glad to hear this. I love Candice Bergen and would’ve been disappointed to hear if she wasn’t nice.
@LeAnn
Just because she didn’t smile back at some stranger doesn’t make her rude. Bit unfriendly sure, but not rude. She doesn’t have the obligation to smile back and maybe she didn’t catch it when you mother smiled at her etc, whatever. No way did that make her ‘rude’. Bet u don’t smile back to every stranger u see or smiled at you…sometime u may even think it’s creepy, etc, & that’s no way make her a rude bitch
Also anyone with a bit of decency in them will be polite about the second situation, and that also doesn’t make them nice and classy. Just polite, and maybe internally they’re cursing at u or maybe not
Panjabi had rumours of being a bit of a diva on some British show she worked on years ago.
I am surprised it required two weeks to get the cover. 🙂
But, yea… no… I am not drinking the Kool-aid on Archie being the “difficult” one.
I wonder if there will be a happy family pap stroll, with Julianna.
Considering this is the ONLY source citing Panjabi as the problem, while everyone else is saying it’s Margulies…
Was this source Julianna Margulies? I love this quote about The Good Wife drama; “one of these women is the star of the show, and a producer, and the other is Archie Panjabi”.
How does someone get such an unfounded ego?
She basically only has one popular acting role to her name that was from more than a decade ago. Why she thinks this show will last by her kicking out fan faves and dulling the plot line is a mystery.
But clearly no one is buying the ‘it’s everyone else’ excuse.
Seriously. Margulies is darn lucky to have had two popular and acclaimed TV shows in a career. A lot of actresses never even get one. So why pull this stupid unprofessional crap?
My mom and I love The Good Wife and used to watch it together when I lived closer. Just saw her over the weekend and actually got in a FIGHT over this past season (lol). She thinks it was such a great season and of course Kalinda and Alicia wouldn’t share a scene together since K slept with Peter. Never mind that they shared scenes long after the affair was discovered and it makes no sense whatsoever to keep two main characters apart for over two years, let alone Alicia from basically all the other characters. This past season was crap and whatever is going on behind the scenes, they need to get it straightened out because it is becoming painfully obvious something ain’t right.
Isn’t Julianna represented by the the Mafia agent Huvane???
That’s enough for me to believe Julianna is the problem and they are now doing damage limitation by attacking the other woman. That’s Huvane motto – protect your rude, bitc*y client while using the media to smear the other woman and her reputation.
I don’t see anything showing that he is her publicist. The only name I can find is Liz Mahoney, but that was from a while ago.
Has Gillian Anderson or any of the Fall cast complained about Archie?
Sounds like Marguiles’s people are busy these days..I wonder if they’ll replace the kalinda character..there was another investigator (blonde young) who I thought was pretty good, but she’s vanished too.
What happened to Julianna Margulies? Serious question. She wasn’t that awful on ER.
I don;t know her performance on ER, but boy she plays a wooden soldier on TGW.
I kind of meant attitude, should have written that a lot better!
She’s definitely the weakest link on TGW. Maybe, because of that, she feels like she has to aggressively defend her territory — by firing everyone else with a modicum of acting talent so that she stands out.
Has Matthew Goode said why he’s leaving the show?
I think he is filming Downton as a major character?
he is NOT coming back?? 🙁
I can’t believe he’s not coming back :'(
I agree with the rubbish part. How has this narrative just sprung up and never before?
This is hilarious because it’s obviously done by Julianna or her people trying for damage control, not slick at all!! This made me lose even more respect for her.
Yeah, this seems like BS to me. The key to me is that Archie wouldn’t have been in the position to decide not to film with JM–clearly that was JM’s (unprofessional) call. Also, TGW has such a bizarre history with relatively big names who just up and disappear with no explanation–Taye Diggs, Amanda Peet, now Matthew Goode. I always wondered if JM decided she didn’t like them for whatever reason and, poof, they’re gone.
I’ve always gotten the impression that since it filmed in NY, a lot of actors like to do a role on it while there. Plus it’s had a lot of critical and awards success, so I think a few hop on for a bit, hoping for a guest star Emmy nomination.
I don’t doubt that JM can be difficult and is the root of the problem with Archie and her leaving, but there are a lot of actors who have been on there on and off for many years, so I don’t think she’s driving EVERYONE away. But who knows.
I agree, of course. But think of how Peet and Diggs were introduced as new lawyers, with implied good storylines, and just disappeared with no explanation at all. A little weird imo.
@ lucy2: There are just tons of actors who have disappeared from the show without any resolution, though. That’s not what usually happens on TV shows. Characters leaving is normally a big deal.
I always liked Marguiles until I watched an interview of her and realized what an arrogant pompous ass she is. She humble bragged at every opportunity – like totally on par with Goopy. I was disgusted and haven’t been a fan since. I can’t stomach people who like to praise themselves when there are so many people in the world actually deserving of praise – I don’t get whey the braggarts of the world don’t see that about themselves and realize how unflattering it is.
Am beginning to like her less. Care to share what interview that was?
Chelsea Lately. It was not recent. A couple years ago.
I’m team Julia. If she was so unbearable, I would have expected the problem to have been between her and Christine Baranski. Sometimes people don’t get along, and the person with less power is the on who gets pushed out. It doesn’t mean that they were necessarily innocent.
Possible…though Christine’s character has been pushed to the side quite a bit this season too, and she and JM haven’t had a lot of scenes together – at least not like they used to.
I was expecting damage control like this, just didn’t think it would take soooo long. Quite obviously there going to protect their current actress and throw Panjabi under the bus as it serves the show. I’ve been a loyal viewer from the get go but this kind of behavior has been affecting the quality of the show too, and that is unforgivable. I think CBS backed the wrong horse ( and I’m aware got producer credit) Margulies does not come off well here.
CBS did not “back the wrong horse” – they didn’t have a choice. JM is the main actress, the show is built on her character, named for her & she had executive producer status.
A network would NEVER back a supporting actor in these circumstances, simply because too much of their money is invested in the show and they need it to run smoothly i.e. keep the star happy, long enough for it to be sold for syndication.
I love how much this story completely backfired on whoever planted it. From what I’ve seen, absolutely nobody has bought it, and has just made JM’s camp look petty and vindictive.
Well Julianna and Clooney are buddies and he’s shown he likes difficult women. His wife and his buddy Julia Roberts anyway.
All I can hear is JM’s voice from those damn Citibank commercials…. “So you can”
I used to love this show but I’m done. Maybe Lamar Bishop will take Alicia Florrick out in a hit and they can do a wrap up and call it the dead wife? The whole plot with her running for office and losing was a complete waste of a season…
And to add. I loved Nathan Lanes character and he too disappeared.
It’s not just the high-profile actors who were added & then suddenly disappeared, but even fewer storylines between Julianna’s character & Cary, Diane etc. When it started TGW featured more cases in-depth, it was an interesting aspect of the show blending her personal life with legal drama – and the cases meant more screen time with regulars Diane, Cary, Will, etc.
But those storylines have diminished, as has her screen time with co-stars, as has the meatiness of those co-stars’ roles. They’ve really carved the characters out onto separate islands – literally the hallmark of dysfunctional families. And as they’ve done that, her character has become increasingly insufferable. Sad, it was a great show. I still watch for the other characters.
Yes, it’s true–the supporting cast is so rich and underused at this point.