McKenna Grace’s stardom and her character’s trajectory jointly contributed to her absence in the Young Sheldon finale.
Throughout Young Sheldon, the fans have come across certain memorable characters who were important in Sheldon Cooper’s growth in the show. McKenna Grace’s Paige Swanson, a child prodigy like Sheldon, was such a character. Many fans were dissatisfied when the fan-favorite Sheldon rival never got her deserved farewell.
After Young Sheldon ended with its seventh season last year, many fans felt that McKenna Grace should have gotten a more ideal ending. Some popular theories also suggested a dark fate for Paige Swanson. But one of the showrunners, Steve Holland, confirmed that Grace’s absence from the final season had nothing to do with CBS but her storyline in the show.
Multiple factors contributed to McKenna Grace’s Young Sheldon finale absence
McKenna Grace was introduced as Paige Swanson in Season 2 of Young Sheldon. She was the primary rival to Iain Armitage’s lead at East Texas Tech and took no time to be a fan favorite. Besides her brilliant portrayal in the show, Grace has also garnered an incredible amount of love by starring in multiple renowned movies and TV shows.
When Young Sheldon‘s Steve Holland sat for a conversation with TVLine, he clarified that CBS had nothing to do with her absence in the Season finale. He added that McKenna Grace’s “incredible” stardom played a major role in it.
“People online respond to Paige and I think that’s because Mckenna is incredible. The downside of Mckenna being incredible is that Mckenna is a movie star and that makes Mckenna very difficult to get”
For those who are unaware, the 18-year-old actress and singer has worked in movies like Gifted, Annabelle Comes Home, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
Additionally, Steve Holland also stated that even if McKenna Grace returned, she did not have much to do in the finale. Reportedly, the makers never thought that Paige’s arc needed more closure than what was shown.
“When we got into this season, especially with it being a shortened season, we never thought that [Paige’s storyline] was an arc that needed more closing than it got. There was a parallel; she was a bit of a mirror image of Sheldon — a different way that Sheldon could have turned out — and I think we saw that play out”
Many theories were posted on the internet that suggested a darker fate for Paige’s character following her parents’ divorce. Fans thought that it might be a reason, as she is never even mentioned in The Big Bang Theory. Nonetheless, Holland disagreed with it. He felt that the character was never very important to Sheldon. She was more of Missy’s friend than Sheldon’s.
McKenna Grace is important in the upcoming Hunger Games movie
After the moderate success of 2023’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, we will get another prequel movie the next year. The upcoming movie is based on Suzanne Collins’ 2025 book, Sunrise on the Reaping, and stars McKenna Grace as Maysilee Donner. She is a fellow District 12 Tribute to Haymitch Abernathy.
Woody Harrelson’s Haymitch Abernathy in the original trilogy was loved by many. According to Deadline, Joseph Zada will play a young Abernathy in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. Additionally, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina actress, Whitney Peak, will play Haymitch’s girlfriend, Lenore Dove Baird.
This will be a significant movie for McKenna Grace, as her role is described as important as the original trilogy’s Katniss Everdeen. The character of Everdeen skyrocketed Jennifer Lawrence‘s fame to another level. Sunrise on the Reaping‘s story takes us back to Panem’s world 24 years before the events of the original movie.
McKenna Grace will also appear in some other substantial projects like Scream 7, Regretting You, and a Five Nights at Freddy’s sequel. She will also star in Anniversary alongside big names like Diane Lane, Kyle Chandler, and Dylan O’Brien.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is set to be released on November 20, 2026. Young Sheldon can be streamed on Netflix and Max.
