‘Switched At Birth’ Star Katie Leclerc Teases ‘Heartbreaking’ Series Finale, New Show ‘Confess’

Although “Switched at Birth” is coming to an end after five amazing seasons, it doesn’t mean this is the last you will see of the stars from the show.

International Business Times had the pleasure of chatting with Katie Leclerc, who plays Daphne on the Freeform series. During our exclusive interview, the Freeform star spilled details about the series finale, her new series “Confess” and what fans can expect from her next.

READ: Questions we need answered in the “Switched at Birth” series finale

While Leclerc must leave her popular character behind, there is no doubt that she has learned plenty from portraying Daphne on screen. However, she did note that her character has a way of getting herself into trouble due to her kindness.

“You learn that it doesn’t always work out in your favor to be in everybody’s business. I think [I learned] definitely some patience and she’s just very open and loving and wants everyone to succeed. I think those are all really good qualities,” the actress told IBT.

Despite some qualms with Daphne’s character traits, she is certain about how she feels towards the series coming to an end. “Personally I loved this series finale, I never wanted the series to end but I am a fan of ‘Switched at Birth’ just as much as the fans are,” Leclerc explained.

The star revealed that she would become ecstatic whenever she learned more about the show’s storyline. “When we would get scripts I would be like ‘Oh my God!’ and I would devour them,” she said.

Although it is all coming to an end, Leclerc is thrilled about the extended finale. “I love this finale and as a fan, it is the finale that I would have wanted and would have hoped for. I love it and it’s 90 minutes so we get extra time for all of the feels because there is all of the feels,” Leclerc said.

Leclerc also believes that fans will enjoy the finale and will be satisfied with the way the storylines have wrapped up, however, things may get emotional. “I think we have such great fans, nobody wants it to end but all good things have to end and you want it to go out with a bang. This is like a bang and a box of tissues combined,” she said.

Trying to describe the overall feel of the “Switched at Birth” Season 5 series finale was a bit difficult for the actress, but she did her best to narrow it down to three words. “Heartbreaking and joyful and maybe hopeful instead of joyful because I feel like I hope these characters go on to live great lives,” she said.

“It’s fun in the way that ‘Switched at Birth’ has always tried to be, it’s really successful and sad. I love it so much I really do,” Leclerc added.

The actress explained that she was quite emotional when she found out “Switched at Birth” was ending. “It totally was the saddest day of my career ever, the day we found out we were canceled but I feel like shows benefit from knowing this is it. At the end of Season 5 we hugged everyone and we were like ‘Okay, so, bye for now?’ We weren’t sure if we were going to come back or not but in some ways that was a harder goodbye,” she said.

Although the show has come to an end, Leclerc revealed that the cast and crew are close and no longer working together will not stop them from seeing one another. However, the end of “Switched at Birth” isn’t all bad seeing as Leclerc snagged the lead role in “Confess,” which she refers to as “sexy” and “funny.”

“‘Confess’ is a limited series of 7 episodes on the go90 App and I play Auburn Reed who comes from a troubled past and she starts making right on decisions she made when she was younger that are causing so many problems right now,” the actress explained.

“She’s trying to get custody of her son back and in the process of all of that legal conversation she meets this boy and he is sort of a means to an end at first. She needs a job and he’s hiring for the night so she gets to know him and it turns out he is the one she’s supposed to be with but in her mind, she’s supposed to be with someone else but in her heart, she’s supposed to be with this artist guy.”

“Confess” is based on the Colleen Hoover novel and has received a tremendous amount of support from fans of the author.

Despite moving on to a new character, Leclerc is grateful for her past roles. “I end up playing these really strong women with these giant hurdles and obstacles to overcome. Like Daphne being deaf and meeting this new family, Auburn is just like a rock and a hard place, her stride is not as graceful but by the end of it she really finds her footing and comes into her own,” the actress explained.

Leclerc was actually happy with the way her character, Auburn, was able to find happiness on her own terms. “Owen [Ryan Cooper] makes her happy and I think that’s the distinction. Does she need Owen? No, she doesn’t and the Trey [Rocky Myers] thing was just sort of ‘Oh girl, oh honey. There are better options.’ I feel like ending up with Owen wasn’t a slap to the femininity at all,” she explained.

“I think she stays with Owen because Owen makes her happy and Owen helped her discover this courage in herself, it was there before, she just wasn’t brave enough to let it show. She was always trying to be like, ‘I have to be a good girl, this is the only option I have in front of me,’ and he was like ‘No, there are options and there are choices.’ I like her with Owen at the end, not that they will stay together forever but I like that he’s in there.”

Leclerc has a few other new projects coming up that she is also excited for fans to see. “‘Round of Your Life’ is a great, great, great family film and my friend Tim Ogletree wrote it. I’m really excited for people to see it, that one is really close to coming out. I know the final mixes and everything are done,” the actress said.

“The story is about the father of a family who is a professional golfer and he ends up getting into a really terrible car accident and he is in a coma for an extended period of time so the family is praying for him and it’s sort of a test of their faith. I play a nurse who works at the hospital who of course falls in love with the eldest son of the family so there’s definitely lighter comedy moments.”

For any fans who are worried they won’t be seeing anything new for Leclerc need not to fear seeing as the actress is always working on a project.

“It’s really hard for me to stay still for an extended period of time so I wrote a movie with my husband [Brian Habecost] that I think we’re going to go into production this summer so definitely we’re moving and shaking and things are always happening,” Leclerc teased.

Catch up on “Confess” by binge-watching the series on go90 and be sure to watch the “Switched at Birth” series finale Tuesday at 9:01 p.m. EDT on Freeform.