Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Last October, Netflix A new interview series has premiered, “Famous Last Words.” Based on the Danish series The Last Word, the series features interviews with prominent figures that are not released until after their deaths.
The first episode was an interview with beloved primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall, filmed several months before her death and made available posthumously. Today, the second episode was released, featuring actor Eric Dane, who passed away this week after a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Famous Last Words is hosted by Brad Falchuk, a frequent collaborator of Ryan Murphy (and perhaps most famously, husband of Gwyneth Paltrow). Falchuk also serves as co-producer with Mikkel Bondesen, the original host of the Danish show.
When the series first aired, it seemed like a space where those with decades of experience could impart the hard-earned wisdom of their long lives. This is what makes Dane’s episode so much more emotional. The actor, best known for his role as “McSteamy” on Grey’s Anatomy, announced his ALS diagnosis in April 2025 and died at the age of 53. It happened very quickly for someone who seemed to be in his prime.
The first episode with Goodall, who was 91 when she passed away, felt like a celebration of her legacy. Dane’s episode looks different. Speaking from his wheelchair, he reveals that this interview is a gift to his daughters, a way to make sure they really know who their father is. At times, this is not an easy watch, given its raw and sometimes tearful revelations.
Episode 2 explores Dane’s past emotional trauma caused by losing his father and grandmother at a young age, and his struggle to form a meaningful bond with his mother. While Goodall’s episode seemed glamorous, Dane’s episode is about his ability to achieve peace of mind despite the difficulties he faces. Ultimately, it’s a message about the importance of living in the present.
One could say that Goodall’s interview was exciting and frank. She didn’t hold back when she criticized several current world leaders and alluded to a past unrequited romance. Dane’s looks grimmer as he reflects on how he has been shaped by the challenges he faces and leaving his daughters Billie and Georgia behind.
While we now know the identities of the first two people interviewed, New York Times In October, at least three interviews were recorded and stored. Netflix has not and will not reveal any identities in advance.
It can have you playing a terrifying mental guessing game, similar to guessing who might show up at next year’s Oscars. The operation is so secret that only Falchuk and the interviewer are in the room, and the cameras are operated remotely.
Falchuk says that prostitution or deathbed confessions are not the point of the show. “It’s not about getting them to tell some secrets about their lives, this is a big story that makes the front page of the New York Post… It’s a service for these people to have their last words.”
Famous Last Words is a unique model. Episodes only air after a person has died, so no one can predict with any real certainty when the next episode will be released.
But as the series’ opening titles say, “When someone important dies, all you long for is just to spend more time with them.” And that’s exactly what it offers. For now, we’ll keep our guesses about who will appear in the next episode to ourselves.