The story behind actress Ruth Wilson's exit on The Affair has gotten more interesting, as the actress recently hinted there might have been some drama behind her leaving the series. Wilson, who first made headlines following the exit by saying she couldn't talk about what led to her exit, repeated the statement again in a new interview with a little more detail:
It isn't about pay parity, and it wasn't about other jobs, but I'm not really allowed to talk about it. There is a much bigger story.
Ruth Wilson seems to be encouraging the press to dig deeper for the details behind her leaving The Affair, as she's apparently not allowed to talk about it. Wilson has confirmed Showtime's statement that she had asked to leave prior to her character Allison getting killed off in Season 4, but now is teasing there may be more to the story than Showtime or anyone else involved in the show is admitting to. Wilson didn't go any further into the situation but encouraged The New York Times more than once to reach out to writer and producer for The Affair Sarah Treem about the situation.
Sarah Treem was contacted following the interview with Ruth Wilson, but her comment didn't differ much from statements that have come from The Affair's other staff. Treem, who didn't mention Wilson wanting to leave prior to Season 4, stated that killing off Allison was a creative decision, and will lead to an interesting Season 5:
The character of Allison had run its course. By completing her arc this season, the consequences of her death will lead to compelling story lines for our final season.
That's certainly true considering The Affair presented two possible scenarios behind how Allison died. Viewers will presumably figure out which scenario is the truth in the final season, although it's possible they'll never know the full story behind Ruth Wilson's exit. Wilson has mentioned that the death storyline was not the way she wanted Allison to exit the Showtime series, so it's possible the big story behind her exit may have something to do with that. Wilson's comments also come at a time where Hollywood as a whole is under a lot of scrutiny for incidents of sexual misconduct, and while it's possible something like that could've happened here no information has been revealed to indicate that may be part of this "bigger story."
Season 5 of The Affair is expected to air on Showtime in 2019. Lots of great television is expected to air before then, so be sure to keep up with any and all major show returns and premieres by visiting our fall premiere guide. For more on actresses leaving Showtime dramas, check out what Shameless' showrunner had to say about how Emmy Rossum's departure will impact the series.
