Stana Katic is back at work on season eight of "Castle" following down-to-the-wire contract negotiations in May that put her future on the ABC show in serious doubt. While co-star Nathan Fillion signed on for another season in April, Katic's new contract wasn't announced until hours before ABC presented its 2015-2016 schedule.
The newly wed actress signed on for at least one more season and added a producer credit to her name, but she claims the situation surrounding the negotiations wasn't as dire as it seemed from the outside.
"For me it wasn't necessarily down to the wire," Katic told Deadline. "I didn't really start speaking about that until after we had wrapped the (7th) season. A lot of discussions were happening while I was filming 'The Rendezvous,' so I let my reps handle [it]. It went rather quickly in the end."
The 37-year-old actress filmed two independent movies over the summer including "The Rendezvous" opposite Raza Jaffrey and "Sister Cities" with Alfred Molina and Jackie Weaver.
After wrapping up its two leads, "Castle" also had to replace its showrunner and look at a future without its creator Andrew Marlowe onboard, which gave Katic pause about her character Kate Beckett's future.
"[Marlowe] was part of making this character (Kate Beckett) what she's become, and he has been part of this dialogue about how to create a strong female heroine," she said.
Her nerves were set as ease when the series added longtime "Castle" writers Terence Paul Winter and Alexi Hawley as co-showrunners.
"I started to feel the character would be safe in the next chapter of 'Castle.' I felt confident that they knew the story, the character - Terence has been on the show since Day 1, and some of the most interesting episodes for my character were penned by Alexi - and while they are eager to shake things up and aim at telling challenging stories, they would also protect the integrity of the character.
Together again #CastleSeason8 pic.twitter.com/7AhbB7DH4k
— Alexi Hawley (@AlexiHawley) July 27, 2015
The seventh season ended on a bit of a cliffhanger with Beckett having to decide whether to pursue a position as captain in the NYPD (a position empty in her own precinct after the show let go Penny Johnson Jerald, who played Captain Victoria Gates, in May) or a possible run for New York State Senate.
Katic didn't let on to what her character's decision will be but the first two episodes of season eight will revolve around "an event that shifts the entire season into a higher velocity" and "is part of what will set everything up for the next 20 episodes." The show will also explore more of Castle's disappearance and memory loss from last season and what made Beckett become a cop beyond her mother's murder.
As for whether the eighth season will ultimately be the last for Katic, it's still too early to call.
"I don't know what is going to happen with 'Castle' and its future as we are at the beginning of what this season is going to be," she said. "As an actor, if we can tell many stories and have a creatively fulfilling experience, we love to jump and explore a character."
"Castle" will return on Monday, Sept. 21 at 10 p.m. on ABC.
