Young Sheldon’s Annie Potts Gets Emotional About Saying Goodbye to Costars She Watched Grow Up (Exclusive)

WITH Young Sheldon in the final season, Annie Potts tearfully reflects on her actors.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the actress, 71, got emotional talking about the past seven years of working with Iain Armitage and Raegan Revord on the hit CBS show, in which Armitage, 15, plays a younger version of Jim Parsons’ character Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theorywhile Revord, 16, portrays Sheldon’s twin sister Missy.

“I’m going to cry now,” admits Potts, who plays Sheldon’s grandmother Meemaw. “I love children and it has been a privilege to watch them grow up. [Iain is] so grown up, and when we started, he and Reagan would sit on my lap and kiss me and play with my nails and ears. They were tiny, they just talk all day long, he would say — and they still say — ‘I love you. I love you, Miss Annie.’”

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Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

While Armitage recently told PEOPLE that he was caught off guard Young Sheldon popularity on Netflix — the streaming service re-released the series in November 2023 — Potts is less surprised.

“I’m used to drinking,” she explains. “The show is very expendable. The episodes end up being about 18, 19 minutes long, so you can watch three in an hour. Well, people say, yes, we are like ice cream with chocolate sauce. There’s more and more and more – give it to me. So I think it’s a good fit there.”

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And despite revolving around a once-in-a-generation genius who grew up in Texas in the ’90s, Young Sheldon also highlights many related topics.

“I think every family has a weird point: someone they have to explain to others,” jokes Potts. “It’s like, I know. And so I think it compares to watching a family trying to navigate this brilliant, difficult thing.”

Annie Potts with Iain Armitage in the first season of ‘Young Sheldon’.

Robert Voets/CBS/Warner Bros. Entertainment

Everything you need to know Young Sheldon Season 7

The actress, who will reprise the role of Janina Melnitz in the upcoming film Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, also briefly felt nostalgic about her decades-long career.

“I think it’s amazing. Now I’m 71 years old and I’m still here!” she says and adds: “Hold on, hold on, hold on. I mean, it wasn’t exactly sunshine and unicorns, but I persevered, and I’m kind of a workaholic, so thank God it’s still like that, because I’m dangerous if I don’t work.”

One opportunity you wouldn’t turn down? Performance at Hacks. If her ex Designing women costar Jean Smart knocked, Potts wouldn’t have understood that.

“Oh God,” she exclaims. “I’d bike to Universal in a heartbeat!” Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Season 7 of Young Sheldon airs Thursdays at 8:00 PM ET on CBS.

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Source: HIS Education