Even though The Good Wife hasn’t been on screens for a while now, it’s still delivering us drama.
Fans of the underrated legal show have probably heard all about the long-rumoured feud between two of the show’s stars, Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi.
But even if you didn’t watch the show, it’s a pretty juicy rivalry that’s still being discussed today, seven years after the show wrapped.
READ MORE: Actor ‘brought back from dead’ after collapsing at home
READ MORE: Aussie superstar marries partner in stunning ceremony
And that’s thanks to some offensive comments Margulies, 57, made about LGBTIQ+ and Black supporters of Palestine in a November 21 episode of Andy Ostroy’s podcast The Back Room.
Although Margulies, per Variety, issued an apology for her remarks in a statement over the weekend – “I did not intend for my words to sow further division, for which I am sincerely apologetic,” part of her statement reads – social media users haven’t been quick to forgive… nor forget.
That much is obvious by the fact that they’ve been referencing Margulies’ rumoured feud with former co-star Panjabi, 51, in the wake of Margulies’ incendiary remarks.
For a daily dose of 9Honey, subscribe to our newsletter here.
“Good morning to Archie Panjabi, and only to Archie Panjabi,” one X (formerly Twitter) wrote. “If you know, you know.”
“It’s been a great day for Archie Panjabi (an absolute queen),” another fan wrote on X.
So what actually happened between Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi, and is it true they were feuding throughout The Good Wife‘s run? Here’s what we know.
READ MORE: Six-word ‘plea’ Patti Newton’s dad gave to Bert on his death bed
https://twitter.com/hellresidentNY/status/1730600224497057840https://twitter.com/new_step_mom/status/1730429732225749337
Inside Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi’s rumoured feud
The two talented actresses played BFFs on the show: Margulies played Alicia, a political wife getting back into her law career, while Panjabi’s character Kalinda was an investigator who worked closely with Alicia’s law firm. The pair had plenty of scenes together in the first two seasons of the show, on personal and professional terms.
At the end of Season 2, it was revealed that Kalinda once slept with Alicia’s husband. This betrayal obviously put some distance between the two characters, and for most of Season 3, the characters didn’t work together at all. In Season 4, they slowly became friends again and the actors shot a handful of scenes together.
But despite the truce, fans noticed that after the 14th episode of Season 4, Margulies and Panjabi never appeared on screen together. For a TV drama with an ensemble cast, it’s pretty bizarre for two characters to have zero interaction at all.
READ MORE: Dreaming of a holiday? This could be your next adventure
There were a few scenes where they talked on the phone, but the two characters never came face to face. This is where the rumours of a feud were born.
Though we can’t point to an exact moment that kicked it off, some believe that it started after Panjabi won a Best Supporting Actress Emmy for her role in 2010. Margulies was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series but did not win – however she did win the award in 2011 and 2014.
All through Season 5 and 6, the weird no-scenes-together dynamic continued until it was announced that Panjabi’s character Kalinda would be leaving at the end of Season 6.
READ MORE: Aussie model’s grand comeback after decade-long hiatus
The show’s creators were asked about the lack of screentime for the characters, who at this point were on friendly terms again.
“Part of that has been intentional, which is to try and show this relationship, which was a friendship so strong, is now so worse,” said showrunner Robert King.
Margulies said similar things when asked: “I think [their friendship is] kind of played out because of circumstance… I think Kalinda’s character seems to have gone in a different direction.”
In the lead up to Kalinda’s farewell from the show, fans hoped that her and Alicia would have one last scene together, as a way to say goodbye. The penultimate episode of season 6 contained a flashback scene with both actors – but it was just a series of close-up shots that never showed them both in the same frame.
In the final episode, to fans’ dismay, it was more of the same. One of Panjabi’s last scenes featured her sitting next to Alicia at a bar that they used to frequent back when they were best friends.
At first glance, it seemed like a normal scene with both actors. But under closer scrutiny, it was easy to tell that they had each filmed their scene separately, using green screens and body doubles. Extremely The Parent Trap energy, tbh.
READ MORE: The strict Christmas deadline every Australian needs to know
With that, Panjabi departed the show and people assumed that would probably be the end of the feud. Of course it wasn’t. That’s not how (rumoured) celebrity feuds work.
When she was asked if the on-screen tension spoke of any behind-the-scenes drama, Panjabi hinted that something was going on. “You know, I can’t answer that, as much as I want to. But those decisions are made by the producers. I’m not privy to those decisions.”
Meanwhile, Margulies was questioned about the weird season finale filming choices and blamed it on scheduling conflicts. She laughed away any rumours of a feud, then said that their scenes were filmed separately because Panjabi was busy on-set for her other show, The Fall, and couldn’t get to New York.
However, Panjabi was having none of that. After seeing that quote, she took to Twitter and implied that she was there and ready to film the scene, but Margulies wasn’t keen to film together.
READ MORE: Secret Santa gift ideas for everyone, under $50
https://twitter.com/archiepanjabi/status/651035191985631233
READ MORE: How to get the brand new PlayStation in time for Christmas
Very interesting…
Since then, we haven’t heard much about the ‘feud’. In 2019, Alan Cumming, a co-star on The Good Wife, basically confirmed the bad blood between the two actors. When an interviewer told him that fans were hoping to see a reunion between Margulies and Panjabi, he laughed and said, “Good luck with that.”
In 2020, in an interview with The New York Times, Panjabi was once again asked about Margulies.
The interviewer mentioned Panjabi’s Emmy win as a catalyst for the feud, but she refused to shed any light on the situation, saying she’d take it to her grave. “I’ve said what I’m going to say. We are living in a world where everybody wants to know everything. I completely understand why everyone asks about it. Everybody I meet asks me about it, in some roundabout way. I just feel like I’m doing work because of that character.”
So unless Margulies comes forward to spill some tea about the supposed rivalry, it doesn’t sound like we’ll be learning more about it any time soon.